Law & Order (TV Series)

City Hall (2004)

Tovah Feldshuh: Defense Attorney Danielle Melnick

Quotes 

• Danielle Melnick : The People of the State of New York vs Peter Rubin. The prosecutors aren't the people; you are. You are the people. You speak for all of us, and not only on guilt or innocence, but on the government's conduct in this case. How fitting that the incident in question should take place at City Hall, because evidence here shows how the government systematically victimized Peter Rubin. How they took his business, his livelihood, even his privacy. The government that was supposed to protect him tormented him instead. And Peter Rubin and his family were the third victim in this case. Now, we're all terribly sorry about what happened to Councilman Johnson, but nothing you do today can bring him back. You can do something about how the government treated Peter Rubin, or next time the home they enter in the dead of night could be yours.

  Jack McCoy : The government's conduct has nothing to do with this case. Peter Rubin took a gun to City Hall and shot two people, one of them fatally. How ironic that he should murder a lawmaker and now emplore you to ignore the law. While his story might be sympathetic, the actions that he took are reprehensible. As the judge will instruct you, the Rubins knowingly violated federal law. The search of Peter Rubin's home by federal agents was legal and beyond reproach. And the law that permitted it was not applied randomly or capriciously. You may not like the law, but no one in this room has the authority to pass judgment on it in this forum. When we disagree with the laws, we take it up with the people who write them; we speak out with our pens, our voices, our votes. Not with guns. We don't settle grievances or perceived injustices with violence.