Quotes from Lawrence Douglas

It is a remarkable ending. On one level the story of the boy and his father is linked to the imperative of rendering a just verdict. Yet by ending within a quotation, Shawcross permits the story to stand outside its legal frame. And though Shawcross presents the act of legal judgment as a potential safeguard against future atrocity, the thrust of his conclusion asks us to look not forward but back. The final imperative that Shawcross places before the court is the duty to remember.

Our Constitution does not secure the peaceful transition of power, but rather presupposes it.