Jed S. Rakoff
Jed S. Rakoff
Jed Saul Rakoffis a United States District Judge on senior status for the Southern District of New York...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJudge
Date of Birth1 August 1943
CountryUnited States of America
either engine facts inherently judicial lawful moral power rest serves simply solid trials worse
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 - it serves no lawful or moral purpose and is simply an engine of oppression.
baseball common fail focus goal individual people resonates society team time work
In baseball you have individual responsibility, and if you fail it, you get an error. But at the same time, your focus is on the common goal of the team to win. This is part of what resonates with people about baseball. This is how they would like society to work.
almost best careers companies experience federal indicted individual name seeking stake whose
In my experience, most federal prosecutors, at every level, are seeking to make a name for themselves, and the best way to do that is by prosecuting some high-level person. While companies that are indicted almost always settle, individual defendants whose careers are at stake will often go to trial.
came cases central criminal fraud hears market realize securities society
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 many of the more sensational criminal cases that one hears about.
hard uphold
It's very hard to uphold individual liberty when the person you're representing is often a crook.
based courts fact legitimacy needs reason
Everything needs to be public. The legitimacy of the courts comes from the fact that they reason openly, on the record, based on facts.
agents benefit commit companies directly inevitably might totally
Companies do not commit crimes; only their agents do. And while a company might get the benefit of some such crimes, prosecuting the company would inevitably punish, directly or indirectly, the many employees and shareholders who were totally innocent.
asked found impressed oath parties stop took
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 it's always done, judge.' I never found anything in the oath I took or the statutes I was asked to look at that said, 'Judge, stop thinking, because this is the way it was done before.'
attorney great huge men respect
I have huge respect for Preet Bharara, a great U.S. Attorney by any measure. But even great men can make mistakes.
arrive bend figure judges particular respect result
I don't have any respect for judges who arrive at the result first, and then try to figure out some way they can bend the law to reach their particular predilections.
baseball individual talent
One of the many things I like about baseball is how it combines individual talent and teamsmanship.
I have a past of making a fool of myself.
freedom lost name restrict seek thereby
If, in the name of combating terrorism, we so restrict our own freedom, have we not thereby lost part of the very battle we seek to win?
guy high system terms
The price of being a nice guy is too high - much too high - in terms of the system of justice.