Law & Order (TV Series)
Good Faith (2007)
Tovah Feldshuh: Defense Attorney Danielle Melnick
Quotes
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Danielle Melnick : [Jack is watching a game at a bar. Danielle comes up behind him and leans on the bar next to him, her chin on her fist] So who's winning? The Christians, or the lions?
Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy : Who are you, and what have you done with Danielle Melnick?
Danielle Melnick : The First Amendment isn't just about free speech, Jack. It also protects religious practice.
Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy : And on that pretext, you'd turn a courtroom into Alice in Wonderland?
Danielle Melnick : Oh, come on Jack. Don't you think that I realize what this sounds like?
Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy : Then why sign on?
Danielle Melnick : I suggested ten other options - this was the only defense he would endorse. And I believe, he believes it.
Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy : Then maybe *you* need a 730 exam.
Danielle Melnick : Look - a jury may laugh this out of the courtroom, but you have to allow the argument. The minute you start challenging its veracity, you're, you're... you're making dangerous value judgments!
Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy : If faith is an excuse for murder, then let's just give a free pass to Osama Bin Laden.
Danielle Melnick : It is not the government's place to tell people what they can and cannot believe!
Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy : But you're not protecting Jacob Reese's religious choice - you're helping him hide behind it.
Danielle Melnick : Maybe it's self-delusion on his part - or maybe, it's faith.
Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy : Or maybe it doesn't have anything to do with religious principle at all and the man just snapped. So let's call it what it is - a Hail Mary.
Danielle Melnick : You know... not everybody thinks this is such a joke. Tomorrow's Daily News just hit the stands.
[drops a newspaper on the bar with a picture of the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel and a rather unflattering picture of Jack headlined "D.A. vs. God"]
Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy : Hmm.
Danielle Melnick : Goodnight and God bless, Jack.
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Danielle Melnick : See you 'round, Jack.