10
" I think too many people take advantage of their right to cloister, to live in their little echo chambers, to settle into small societies of like-minded souls, never taking the time to test and strengthen the rightness of their beliefs through searching inquiry, vigorous debate, and open dialogue. There is no such luxury at a criminal trial. There you cannot hide in your self-absorbed bunker, especially if you are the prosecutor. People are paid and obliged by oath and blessed by the Constitution. To do what? To attack every single allegation and argument you have made. And to do it with great zeal. So in that world you have to engage with your critics. And you must engage using facts, truth, and logic. You cannot just say, “I believe this” or “These are my alternative facts.” Honest engagement is the essence of the job. And it is the most exhilarating thing in the world. We malign lawyers as litigious and combative, often deservedly so, but I vastly prefer the spirit of respectful engagement and combat to what we have now in so many parts of society—siloed self-congratulation, self-affirmation, without risk of challenge or dissent or real and respectful debate. "
― , Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law
18
" Here’s what I think: if you are listening hard and if your dumb questions address the heart of the matter, it’s okay. They may betray ignorance, but also likely show the right focus. If you have a penchant for asking foundational questions that people think you should already know the answers to, so what? You are on the right track. Ignorance is quickly remedied. A tendency toward the tangential, the irrelevant, the collateral, is not so easily fixed. It is okay not to know things, so long as you want to know things, care to know things, and when those are the things you actually need to know. Curiosity and query are among the most important pillars of sound leadership. "
― , Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law
19
" In the case of the People v. Henry Sweet, Darrow delivered one of the most beautiful summations ever spoken. He talked of course about the facts of the case and argued the law of self-defense. But he also talked about justice generally and spoke eloquently about the plight of black people, only recently officially liberated from slavery. He said of the African American, “The law has made him equal, but man has not. And, after all, the last analysis is, what has man done? And not what has the law done.” Ninety years later, that question remains relevant. Darrow also said this: After all, every human being’s life in this world is inevitably mixed with every other life and, no matter what laws we pass, no matter what precautions we take, unless the people we meet are kindly and decent and human and liberty-loving, then there is no liberty. Freedom comes from human beings, rather than from laws and institutions "
― , Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law
