Charles E. Flaherty Quotes

I was convicted of three misdemeanors of willful failure to file a form.

We have to be careful about applying criminal labels to people until we're very sure.

The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.

People say I've had brushes with the law. That's not true. I've had brushes with overzealous prosecutors.

There is no man so good that if he placed all his actions and thoughts under the scrutiny of the laws, he would not deserve hanging ten times in his life.

People who prepare false or fraudulent tax returns risk criminal prosecution and, upon conviction, substantial time in jail.

A drunk was in front of a judge. The judge says "You've been brought here for drinking." The drunk says "Okay, let's get started.

A Pennsylvania woman convicted for shoplifting was sentenced to wear a badge that reads "Convicted Shoplifter." However, her lawyers hope to plea bargain down to a bumper sticker reading "I'd Rather Be Stealing!.

And where the offense is, let the great axe fall.

Fools measure actions, after they are done, by the event; wise men beforehand, by the rules of reason and right. The former look to the end, to judge of the act. Let me look to the act, and leave the end with God.

Conscience is merely our own judgment of the right or wrong of our actions, and so can never be a safe guide unless enlightened by the word of God.

It doesn't take much of a rule to measure a mean man.

Lawyers rarely test their power, or the power they promote, against this simple pragmatic question: "Will it do good?" When challenged about the expanding reach of the law, the lawyer answers, "Why not?

Laws are felt only when the individual comes into conflict with them.

One of them is knowing the difference between Morality and Wisdom. Morality is temporary, Wisdom is permanent… Ho ho. Take that one to bed with you tonight.

I'm very interested in why we do good things, or bad things, and where moral judgments come from.

I do not look upon human beings as good or bad.

They [Federalist European Politicians] divide their time between court room, prison and debating chamber - giving a whole new meaning to the term 'conviction politician'.

I listened to 19 guilty verdicts for my wife and me. And all I could do was sob.

Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our responsibility as human beings to make such judgments.

If the prisoner should ask the judge whether he would be content to be hanged, were he in his case, he would answer no. Then, says the prisoner, do as you would be done to.

Another one of President Barack Obama's nominees is having tax issues, which proves one thing: The Democrats like raising the taxes, but they hate paying them.

A sense of righteousness is even more dangerous than a violent temper.

Throwing acid is wrong... in some people's eyes.

What restrains us from killing is partly fear of punishment, partly moral scruple, and partly what may be described as a sense of humor