Alan Dershowitz quotes - page 6

The court of last resort is no longer the Supreme Court. It's 'Nightline.' (Alan Dershowitz)
We don't have an Official Secrets Act in the United States, as other countries do. Under the First Amendment, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of association are more important than protecting secrets. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I never place limits on the potential success of my students. If they're going into acting, they're going to win the Oscar... If they're going into law, they're going to be chief justice. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Our First Amendment expresses a far different calculus for regulating speech than for regulating nonexpressive conduct and that is as it should be. The right to swing your fist should end at the tip of my nose, but your right to express your ideas should not necessarily end at the lobes of my ears." View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Southern intellectuals also invoked economic and political arguments in support of slavery. They pointed to the dreadful situation of the ‘free laborers' in the North and throughout Europe, and the exploitative nature of industrial capitalism. The slave owner felt a moral obligation toward the slave and had an economic stake in his continues welfare, since the slave was valuable property... As far as the right of every slave to be a free laborer, they mocked this argument as the right to be ‘free to beg, steal and starve.' View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I believe that experience demonstrates that a democratic society that recognizes and enforces these basic rights-uncensored expression, freedom of conscience, due process, democracy, and equal protection of the laws-is preferable to a society that does not. That is my case for rights. That is why I have a strong preference for rights. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
But ‘group rights' is an oxymoron. Groups, especially those with increasing political power, have interests and agendas, but they may not implement them by ignoring the rights of individuals, especially those within these groups who are disempowered and despised. View quote
Alan Dershowitz