Law & Order (TV Series)

Cruel and Unusual (1995)

Sam Waterston: Executive ADA Jack McCoy

Photos 

Quotes 

• Mrs. Vilardi : [about her son]  Mr. McCoy! You're made them close the clinic. Why?

  Jack McCoy : Mrs. Vilardi...

  Mrs. Vilardi : They sent him home. I can't take care of him. I don't know what I'm going to do with him. You took away the only place he had. Do you want him, Mr. McCoy? Can he go home with you now? I didn't think so.

• Jack McCoy : You made sure Kevin Jeffries' life could never be fixed.

  Dr. Alan Colter : Can you honestly tell me he's not better off?

  Jack McCoy : I hope that's not your closing argument.

• Jack McCoy : You beat a dog often enough, it'll stop barking. He might even do tricks for you, but I wouldn't call that humane.

• Professor Norman Rothenberg : Next you'll lock up my allergist for giving me shots twice a year.

  Jack McCoy : If he hooked up electrodes to your chest and back and gave you electric shocks every 10 minutes, I *might* consider it.

• Dr. Ira Chaikin : I've worked with autistic children for the past 20 years. I've read all the studies done on facilitated communication, and I've seen it used in the field. I haven't seen anything I consider sufficient to say it's valid.

  Jack McCoy : You don't think it works, Dr. Chaikin?

  Dr. Ira Chaikin : There's no proof of its reliability with autistic children. In my opinion, the messages reflect the facilitator's coaching.

  Jack McCoy : Are you saying that there's deception involved?

  Dr. Ira Chaikin : No. More like wishful thinking. For parents, there's nothing better in the world than to have your child say, "I love you," and have a true sense of it. Autistic children can't do that. So, when something comes along that promises meaningful communication, parents and people who work with autistic children believe in it.

  Jack McCoy : Thank you. No more questions.

  Professor Norman Rothenberg : Dr. Chaikin, does facilitated communication have its proponents?

  Dr. Ira Chaikin : Yes. So do Ouija boards.

• Jack McCoy : I don't know whether you're a sadist or a conman, or just a fanatic. Whatever your motive, it's murder.