| "Memo From The Dark Side" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | L&O, Episode 20.01 | → |
| Production number: 20001 First aired: 25 September 2009 | ||
| Written By René Balcer & Keith Eisner Directed By Fred Berner | ||
Plot[]
The body of a young war veteran is found in a parking garage and the murder is connected to a law professor who used to work for the Department of Justice.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Jeremy Sisto as Detective Cyrus Lupo
- Anthony Anderson as Detective Kevin Bernard
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
- Linus Roache as Executive A.D.A. Michael Cutter
- Alana De La Garza as A.D.A. Connie Rubirosa
- Sam Waterston as D.A. Jack McCoy
Recurring Cast[]
- Tijuana Ricks as Sergeant Royce
- Ned Eisenberg as James Granick
- Melissa Maxwell as Judge Arlene Jones
- Deborah Offner as Judge Rachel Cates
Guest Cast[]
- Lisa Joyce as Megan Tanner
- Jordan Gelber as David
- Addison Timlin as Hayley Kozlow
- Monique Fowler as Attorney Strawn
- Michael Berresse as Mr. Gardner
- Nancy Opel as Doctor
- David Alan Basche as Kevin Franklin
- Michael Milligan as Michael Gendel
- Creighton James as Greg Tanner
- Marc Damon Johnson as Sergeant Kupchack
- Stephen Largay as Vagrant
- Mark Morettini as Jerry
- Nicola Barber as Janice Mazern
- Michael Gibson as Court Officer
- William Connell as Foreperson
References[]
- 9/11
- Abu Ghraib
- American Civil War
- American Revolutionary War
- George W. Bush
- Dick Cheney
- Iraq
- Abraham Lincoln
- Nuremberg defense
- Adam Schiff
- Torture
- United States Department of Justice
- George Washington
- The prosecution of Emilio Pantoya
Quotes[]
- Greg Tanner's video diary: We walked the detainee into the shower room. He was handcuffed and he was wearing a hood over his head. The interrogator told us to hang him by his wrists from the bars of a window like this with his hands behind his back up high, so the guy can't kneel or sit and all the weight's on his arms and chest. The 'gator said the guy was an unlawful combatant, and under the rules, we could do whatever we want with him. We hooked him up and we left him with the 'gator. An hour later, the 'gator called us back in, and he wanted us to reposition the detainee. The detainee was slumped forward. His arms were almost out of their sockets. He wasn't responsive. Then we took the hood off his head, and all this blood poured out of his mouth. He was -- he was dead. And those rules -- those damn rules were wrong. We had to live by 'em, and it messed us up. I found one of the guys who wrote the rules here at the college. I gotta get right with this. I didn't join the service to murder people.
- Michael Cutter: Jack, you wanna prosecute a member of the Bush Administration for assaulting suspected terrorists?
- Jack McCoy: The word is "torturing." And, yes, it's about time somebody did.
- Michael Cutter: You know, that day, eight years ago, we could see the Towers burn from Adam's window.
- Jack McCoy: I remember.
- Michael Cutter: Part of me says "I don't care what you do to these detainees. I don't wanna know. Just protect us."
- Jack McCoy: The problem is, now we do know.
- Michael Cutter: Yeah, and I'm not sure that makes a difference.
- Michael Cutter: This is no simple legal opinion, ladies and gentlemen. This is an instruction on how to commit a crime and avoid prosecution. A surgical parsing of words to draw hair-splitting distinctions between severe pain and extreme pain. The creation of a special class of prisoners who are fair game for any suffering we might subject them to. This is the legal grease that enabled the conspirators to commit acts that are immoral and illegal. Hanging prisoners by their wrists until their lungs collapse against their ribs. Waterboarding one detainee over 180 times. Now Mr. Franklin's defense is that he was just following orders as a mere lawyer in the Justice Department. Well, like all lawyers, he was employed as the last and best defense against injustice, to use the law as a shield to protect people. But instead, he used it as a sword to injure them. Where he was sworn to uphold the Constitution, he used his legal education to subvert it, to shame it, and betray its promise to the world. Five days after 9-11, Vice President Cheney told us that we would have to "work the dark side" to fight terrorists. Well, we never imagined that to mean that we would cede control to our own dark side. The tactics justified in Mr. Franklin's memo draw from the worst of our nature. Even in the midst of the Revolutionary War, in the midst of the Civil War, Presidents Washington and Lincoln admonished their troops not to injure their prisoners. Now, some of you may feel that it is not the place of this jury or even the people to question the actions of our government officials during a time of war. That the premise of this trial itself somehow is...treasonous. I would assure you, ladies and gentlemen, it is not disloyal to hold our officials to the highest standards of conduct. And it is not disloyal to allow you, the people, to decide what you want done in your name. Thank you.
- Judge Rachel Cates: The Federal Court for the Southern District has issued an order preempting this prosecution. The trial is over. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your service. We are adjourned.
- Michael Cutter: But, Your Honor, the jury had a verdict.
- Judge Rachel Cates: There's no verdict until it's entered in the record. It's over, Mr. Cutter.
- Michael Cutter: The people who want you out, Jack, they'll use this to hammer you.
- Jack McCoy: Good. At the end of the day, I hope to give them even more reason to be mad at me. Come on, Mike.
Background information and notes[]
Background information & notes
| Previous episode: "The Drowned and the Saved" |
"Memo From The Dark Side" Law & Order Season 20 |
Next episode: "Just a Girl in the World" |