Once I really got into securities fraud prosecutions, I came to realize how central they were to the maintenance of a free market and how, in many ways, they are far more important to the welfare of our society than… — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
An application of judicial power that does not rest on facts is worse than mindless, it is inherently dangerous. If its deployment does not rest on facts - cold, hard, solid facts, established either by admissions or by trials -… — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
When I was a kid, and for many years after, I was your classic afraid-to-dance-type person. — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
It's very hard to uphold individual liberty when the person you're representing is often a crook. — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
The price of being a nice guy is too high - much too high - in terms of the system of justice. — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
In baseball you have individual responsibility, and if you fail it, you get an error. But at the same time, your focus is on… — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
I was always attracted to taking a novel position, but one grounded in the materials I'd been given, not made up out of whole… — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
Companies do not commit crimes; only their agents do. And while a company might get the benefit of some such crimes, prosecuting the company… — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
I admired Truman, among many other things, because he integrated the Army. I admired JFK because the very first civil rights legislation was passed… — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
If crimes are committed, they are committed by people; they are not committed by some free-floating entity. These companies and other entities don't operate… — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
I've never been impressed with bureaucratic tradition. I don't like it when the parties come to me and say, 'This is the way that… — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
One of the many things I like about baseball is how it combines individual talent and teamsmanship. — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
I think it's common sense to say that the longer away from a crime it gets prosecuted, the less deterrent effect there is. — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
Everything needs to be public. The legitimacy of the courts comes from the fact that they reason openly, on the record, based on facts. — Jed S. Rakoff Copy Share Image
