Alan Dershowitz quotes - page 2

The Israeli army has given well-publicized notice to civilians to leave those areas of southern Lebanon that have been turned into war zones. Those who voluntarily remain behind have become complicit. Some -- those who cannot leave on their own -- should be counted among the innocent victims. If the media were to adopt this "continuum," it would be informative to learn how many of the "civilian casualties" fall closer to the line of complicity and how many fall closer to the line of innocence. Every civilian death is a tragedy, but some are more tragic than others. (Alan Dershowitz)
And any civil libertarian who was exposed to what's going on here today - if Hillary Clinton were the subject - would be taking exactly the opposite position. There is so much hypocrisy, partisan hypocrisy out there. I don't mind if conservatives take the view we ought to trust government or former prosecutors take the view we ought to trust government. My gripe is against civil libertarians and criminal defense lawyers, people who are always on the side of challenging the government. The ACLU has suddenly lost its way and they've forgotten what they've been preaching for 50 years because it is Donald Trump they're after. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Elaine Kendall of the Los Angeles Times calls Dershowitz "the attorney of last resort for the desperate and despised, counselor for lost causes and forlorn hopes." View quote
Alan Dershowitz
The courtroom oath-to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth-is applicable only to witnesses... because the American justice system is built on a foundation of not telling the whole entire truth. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
You know, being black doesn't give you a license to call people racist any more than being Jewish gives you license to call people anti-Semitic. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
In representing criminal defendants-especially guilty ones-it is often necessary to take the offensive against the government: to put the government on trial for its misconduct. In law, as in sports, the best defense is often a good offense. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I think we are moving closer and closer to the surveillance state where phone calls are tapped, where emails are secured without a real basis. Seeking wiretaps on lawyers' offices and search warrants and subpoenas for lawyers, email files, unless they have very serious evidence of very serious crimes. Campaign contributions don't qualify for the kind of crime that should justify the wiretapping of a lawyer. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
The First Amendment is not limited to the right to be right; it also enshrines the right to be wrong. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
There's no question. My biggest enemies are the hard left. The hard left poses a far greater danger to the American future than the hard right. I'm not worried about a few dozen people with Swastikas who want to replace the Jews, because they're our past. They have no resonance on the University campuses today. But the hard, hard left? Anti-Semitism, anti-Christianity, intolerance for speech, it's the future. These are our leaders... And that's why we have to worry much more about what's going on, on university campuses, than in Charlottesville. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
You will find that the number of Israeli casualties among civilians exceeds the number of Palestinian casualties among (pause) innocent civilians who were noncombatants and not involved in any way in terrorism, and were killed by the Israelis, as distinguished from being killed by Palestinian (pause) terrorists as collaborators! That is simply a fact-I know of no source that disputes that! View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Rights come from human experience, particularly experiences with injustice... In a word, rights come from wrongs. (Alan Dershowitz)
If there can be agreement that certain rights are essential to reduce the chances of perfect injustice, that constitutes the beginning of a solid theory of rights. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I am a skeptic about everything, including God and atheism. I am not certain about issues of cosmology.... I am more certain that the miraculous stories that form the basis of most religious beliefs are myths. Yet I respect the Bible and enjoy reading and teaching it. Indeed, I find it even more fascinating as a human creation than as a divine revelation. I consider myself a committed Jew, but I do not believe that being a Jew requires belief in the supernatural.... Indeed, it is while praying that I experience my greatest doubts about God, and it is while looking at the stars that I make the leap of faith.... If there is a governing force, He (or She or It) is certainly not in touch with those who purport to be speaking on His behalf. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
An important assumption underlying our commitment to freedom of expression is that truth is a process, not a product. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Dershowitz does not engage the debate in this country about Israel on the factual, legal, moral, and humanitarian merits because he knows that his client is "guilty" of violating international law in its occupation of the Palestinian territories. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
The law is agnostic about truth. It's very skeptical of ultimate truth. That's why freedom of speech permits lies to be told. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Being offended by freedom of speech should never be regarded as a justification for violence. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Candor and accountability in a democracy is very important. Hypocrisy has no place. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
In the real world in which we live, you always have to choose between evils. And in choosing between evils, you have to have moral criteria for how to make those choices. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
It simply cannot be disputed that for decades the Palestinian leadership was more interested in there not being a Jewish state than in there being a Palestinian state. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
The threat or fear of violence should not become an excuse or justification for restricting freedom of speech. (Alan Dershowitz)
There are many levels of truth. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I was critical of race-based affirmative action early on in my career and I've changed my mind. And I've publicly acknowledged that I was wrong. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I know Obama, I like Obama, I voted for Obama. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
No country in the history of the world has ever contributed more to humankind and accomplished more for its people in so brief a period of time as Israel has done since its relatively recent rebirth in 1948. View quote
Alan Dershowitz