Jack McCoy quotes from Law & Order

McCoy

Just how far up your ass is your head? A member of your union is threatening to shoot up a school!

Really? I find it hard to believe that any teacher could be pushed over the edge. What do you think did it, Mr. McCoy? Was it being micro-managed by the Department of Education, or having all of the responsibility and none of the authority? Or is it having to dig into their own pockets to pay for classroom supplies? Or maybe it's being abused and assaulted daily by students and their parents!

McCoy

You get no argument from me there. But if your obstruction allows a massacre to happen, I will crucify you, Mr. Kralik. I will charge you with negligent homicide, and after you're convicted, I'll resign my job and represent the victims in a wrongful death suit against you and the union. By the time I'm done, you'll be finished. So my advice to you is get outta my way!

McCoy

"No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar."

Abraham Lincoln?

McCoy

Yeah, well, things have changed since he was around. Honesty isn't exactly in vogue any more. People lie. Even worse, people have gotten used to it. It's become an accepted part of our society, which is why it's so dangerous.

Swanson is a very dangerous, evil man.

McCoy

But, at the moment, he's still a very well-respected, very well-connected businessman, with ties to some of the most influential politicians in the country. Not to mention he supported my opponent in the last election. So, he'll claim we're biased, that this is all payback.

What are you saying?

McCoy

If we're going to try to kill the king, we can't miss.

If we have learned anything over the last decade, it's that locking up disturbed kids doesn't prevent more school shootings. It's proven to be an ineffective deterrent. We have to try a different approach. We need to send a message. We need to hold more people accountable, people who should intervene.

McCoy

Hell of a speech if you were running for office. But you're not. You're a prosecutor, and your job is to follow the law and get justice for victims.

I haven't been subpoenaed in 15 years.

McCoy

That means you aren't trying hard enough.

I still think he's lying.

McCoy

My old boss, he used to say that lawyers who need to be right lose more cases than those who don't.

I'm so sorry about what happened today. Are you here to fire me?

McCoy

I know who you are, Miss Maroun.

I'm not sure that's a good thing. I screwed up.

McCoy

Like everyone else. If you don't screw up, you're not trying hard enough.

Don't you think it's a little too convenient that this perfect piece of evidence just fell from the sky at exactly the right moment?

McCoy

Gift horses, Ms. Maroun.

Booker never intended to kill anybody. He and Foster were fighting to gain control of the gun. The actual bullet wound wasn't even life-threatening. The CO ultimately died of a secondary infection.

McCoy

Irrelevant.

Legally, yes, but morally, ethically ... shouldn't we at least consider Man 1?

McCoy

We can't reward Booker because he tried to escape, regardless of his innocence. He should have waited for the process to play itself out.

I get it, but...

McCoy

But what?

The system failed him, over and over again. So why on Earth should we punish him for not believing in something that he had no credible basis to believe in?

McCoy

You did nothing wrong, Nolan. The truth would have come out eventually.

You're right, but "eventually" took too damn long, and now Randall Foster is dead.

McCoy

I understand. Elements of this case are highly unusual, and troubling. We act on the facts as presented, and Randall Foster is dead because the defendant tried to escape. That's felony murder, all day long. So make peace with the past, and get your head into the game, understand?