--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The question at the end of the day was…" description: "\"The question at the end of the day was, the courts having found there was no defense, a producer about to go to jail, should CBS in effect tell the pro..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/449/floyd-abrams-17028_about_the-question-at-the-end-of-the-day-was-t_3125301.jpg" --- # The question at the end of the day was, the courts having… ![“The question at the end of the day was, the courts having found there was no defense, a producer about to go to jail, should CBS in effect tell the producer go to jail even though there is no law at all that we can use to get you out of jail?” quote by Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/449/floyd-abrams-17028_about_the-question-at-the-end-of-the-day-was-t_3125301.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/449/floyd-abrams-17028_about_the-question-at-the-end-of-the-day-was-t_3125301.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/449/floyd-abrams-17028_about_the-question-at-the-end-of-the-day-was-t_3125301.jpg) > “The question at the end of the day was, the courts having found there was no defense, a producer about to go to jail, should CBS in effect tell the producer go to jail even though there is no law at all that we can use to get you out of jail?” [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The question raises whether a broadcaster should comply with a court’s moral judgment to imprison a producer despite no legal basis, highlighting tension between law and ethics. **In simple terms:** Should a network follow a court’s moral directive without law? Key Takeaway Weigh legal authority against ethical pressure. Themes law ethics media responsibility Mood cautious serious Type legal ethical When to use this quote - broadcast decisions - legal counsel - public policy Key Concepts judicial overreach corporate compliance Questions to Reflect On - When should media obey moral rulings? - What safeguards protect against unlawful imprisonment? A Different Perspective It could set a precedent for arbitrary censorship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Cbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cbs/) [Courts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courts/) [Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day/) [Defense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defense/) [Effect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effect/) [End](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end/) [End of the day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-the-day/) [Even](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/even/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Get](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/get/) [Go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/go/) [Having](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having/) [Jail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jail/) [Jail Cbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jail-cbs-5505026/) [Jail Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jail-law-5505028/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/out/) [Producer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/producer/) [Producer Jail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/producer-jail-5505027/) [Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question/) [Question End](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question-end-341895/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell/) [Though](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/though/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [CBS exhausted the Texas courts. They went from the trial court to the intermediate court to the highest court.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/cbs-exhausted-the-texas-courts-they-went-from-the-trial-court-to-the/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [Were this not Texas, were there not a state where there were no protections at all and where the law was clear on that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/were-this-not-texas-were-there-not-a-state-where-there-were-no/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [CBS fought very hard on this because it believed and believes that there's a principle at stake here. The principle is that Dan Rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/cbs-fought-very-hard-on-this-because-it-believed-and-believes-that/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [It is not to benefit CBS, not to benefit its reporters. On this one, the entire basis of it is this is a way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/it-is-not-to-benefit-cbs-not-to-benefit-its-reporters-on-this-one-the/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [I mean the idea of this is that it's a good thing for the public to hear interviews like this and that there will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/i-mean-the-idea-of-this-is-that-it-s-a-good-thing-for-the-public-to/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [The principle though remains the same, and the important thing is CBS fought hard, very hard, to protect that principle and will fight again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/the-principle-though-remains-the-same-and-the-important-thing-is-cbs/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [But in the end, science does not provide the answers most of us require. Its story of our origins and of our end is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/but-in-the-end-science-does-not-provide-the-answers-most-of-us/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“The war will end someday. The only question is: why can’t we end it immediately? Let’s end it right now. Let us live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhuwan-thapaliya/the-war-will-end-someday-the-only-question-is-why-can-t-we-end-it/) [Bhuwan Thapaliya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhuwan-thapaliya/) > [A question is a question at the end of the day. It's up to me if I want to answer them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-b/a-question-is-a-question-at-the-end-of-the-day-it-s-up-to-me-if-i/) [Mel B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-b/) > [“As I have said, the Bible consistently changes the questions we bring to the problem of pain. It rarely, or ambiguously, answers the backward-looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/as-i-have-said-the-bible-consistently-changes-the-questions-we-bring/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [“My mind cannot grasp forever," she told him. "There must surely be an end somewhere. But the big question is-what it beyond the end?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-balogh/my-mind-cannot-grasp-forever-she-told-him-there-must-surely-be-an-end/) [Mary Balogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-balogh/) > [There has been an earth for a little more than a billion years. As for the question of the end of it I advise:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/there-has-been-an-earth-for-a-little-more-than-a-billion-years-as-for/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Even when I lost my job at CBS News, I set up shop in my youngest daughter's bedroom and started Brainstormin' Productions and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-storm/even-when-i-lost-my-job-at-cbs-news-i-set-up-shop-in-my-youngest/) [Hannah Storm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-storm/) > [When I came to CBS it was the mother church. I mean that was - everybody wanted to go to work for CBS News.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-wallace/when-i-came-to-cbs-it-was-the-mother-church-i-mean-that-was-everybody/) [Mike Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-wallace/) > [CBS has received a strong and positive response from the YouTube community about the quality of its programming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-hurley/cbs-has-received-a-strong-and-positive-response-from-the-youtube/) [Chad Hurley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-hurley/) ## More by Floyd Abrams > [It has something to do with the facts and the law and who the judges are. So I think lawyers sometimes exaggerate their role…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/it-has-something-to-do-with-the-facts-and-the-law-and-who-the-judges/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [The government understands - every government, every administration, both parties, understands - that that power, they just don't have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/the-government-understands-every-government-every-administration-both/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [The government would be able to go to court with respect to newspaper articles, broadcast pieces and the like that they thought were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/the-government-would-be-able-to-go-to-court-with-respect-to-newspaper/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [I really do think that if we had lost that case we would really live in a country that would be really quite different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/i-really-do-think-that-if-we-had-lost-that-case-we-would-really-live/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [CBS exhausted the Texas courts. They went from the trial court to the intermediate court to the highest court.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/cbs-exhausted-the-texas-courts-they-went-from-the-trial-court-to-the/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [When I began we did not really have a lot of First Amendment law. It is really surprising to think of it this way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/when-i-began-we-did-not-really-have-a-lot-of-first-amendment-law-it/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [It just seems to be a human trait to want to protect the speech of people with whom we agree. For the First Amendment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/it-just-seems-to-be-a-human-trait-to-want-to-protect-the-speech-of/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [My role in it was not as central as it was in some of the later cases considering I was younger then and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/my-role-in-it-was-not-as-central-as-it-was-in-some-of-the-later-cases/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [Were this not Texas, were there not a state where there were no protections at all and where the law was clear on that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/were-this-not-texas-were-there-not-a-state-where-there-were-no/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [I thought that one of the things that we were losing sight of is the basic reasons that we do protect free speech and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-abrams/i-thought-that-one-of-the-things-that-we-were-losing-sight-of-is-the/) [Floyd Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-abrams/) > [I am really impressed by lawyers who write books and tell us that they never lost a case. 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Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. 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As soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalena-neuner/i-don-t-think-about-the-press-or-the-crowds-or-the-other-leaders-of/) [Magdalena Neuner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magdalena-neuner/) > [Sport is not just about entertainment. It is equally about winning and losing, pooling and galvanising the energy of the youth, upgrading people's physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-ambani/sport-is-not-just-about-entertainment-it-is-equally-about-winning-and/) [Nita Ambani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-ambani/) > [One of the ways that I discovered my confidence and my ability to overpower is becoming a mother. Suddenly, my world wasn't about myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lights/one-of-the-ways-that-i-discovered-my-confidence-and-my-ability-to/) [Lights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lights/) > [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' 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