Jack McCoy quotes from Law & Order

McCoy

The jurors shouldn't have to think Nurse Rhodes is Dr. Mengele to know that she broke the law.

McCoy

If I don't leave here with a guilty plea, Mr. Corley, I promise, you'll do forty-five years hard time. They'll wheel me out of my retirement home to be at your parole hearings.

McCoy

Justice beyond the law is above my pay grade.

McCoy

You can't yell "fire" in a crowded chatroom.

McCoy

You've had quite a run for someone so young. Exploiting unsuspecting college kids, taking advantage of their youth, their innocence, their vulnerability. And if they change their minds, to hell with them. A release is a release. Like it or not, the world is going to see you naked. Unless you pay me. Or screw me. That's a lot of heartache. A lot of ruined lives. And no one can touch you. But now, you are directly responsible for a death. And I intend to make you pay for that.

McCoy

Vorgitch was a monster. No one disputes that the world is a better place without him, but this is not about who Robert Purcell murdered. It's about the simple fact that he is a murderer. Mr. Purcell is not insane. He does not believe himself to be a judge, a jury, or an executioner. And yet, by killing Leon Vorgitch, he chose to act as all 3. He may have felt morally justified, but still, he knew that what he did was wrong. So, the question before you is not: "Did Vorgitch deserve to die?". It's "Did Robert Purcell have the right to kill him?". And the answer is no. Leon Vorgitch was a danger to our society, but so is what the defense is asking of you today. They want you to look the other way. Even though Robert Purcell ignored our system of justice, took the law into his own hands, and committed murder in cold blood, they want you to give him a pass. If you let Robert Purcell get away with murder, just because you hate the man he shot, you're telling everyone out there that it's okay to kill, as long as the victim was a bad person. Judges, juries, who needs them? If you want to see insanity, let this murderer go.

McCoy

[to Kraslow] Enough of your treacly mea culpas!

McCoy

Doctor, when we send our soldiers ... No, strike that. When we send our children to fight in a war of choice, don't we have the moral obligation, the patriotic duty, to care for those who come home alive whatever the cost?

McCoy

[after learning a doctor was investigating a genetic marker for homosexuality] I hear Pandora's box creaking open.

McCoy

That's one area where science has been no help - how to keep decent people from making lousy decisions.

McCoy

I called Cassidy's boss. Every response from him consisted of a verb, a subject and 9/11.

McCoy

What an idiot! Where did I get the idea I could do this job without the politics and stay above the fray? Now I know why Adam Schiff was so grumpy.

McCoy

If there's a law, I will enforce it. If there's a crime, I will prosecute it. And if there is a victim, I will speak for that victim.

McCoy

[to Dr. Olivet] You understand that you're working for the other side now. That means the gloves will have to come off.

McCoy

One day you'll thank me for yanking your leash, Mike. Sometimes I wish someone had been there to yank mine.