Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Chameleon (2002)

Stephanie March: ADA Alexandra 'Alex' Cabot

Quotes 

• Alex Cabot : [On women's rights]  They've proven they have the right to die by lethal injection just like any man.

• Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : I love a good fight.

  Alex Cabot : I can't believe that turned into a women's rights debate. We don't have the right to execute a woman just because she's a woman?

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : The majority of the Capital Committee agreed with your recommendation. We get Lewin to sign it, we make the world a safer place... and you're labelled the enemy of feminism.

  Alex Cabot : Hey! As far as I'm concerned, this is a coup for women's rights everywhere. Maggie Peterson has the right to a needle in the arm just like any other cold-blooded killer.

  Nora Lewin : So she should just take it like a man.

  Alex Cabot : Gender has nothing to do with it. The fact that she murdered four people in this jurisdiction alone does.

  Nora Lewin : Oh, but she's only charged with three? The fourth was ruled self-defense against a known rapist and murderer, I have a real problem with this.

  Alex Cabot : That one incident does not change the circumstances of the other murders.

  Nora Lewin : You think that the first woman New York state executes should be a single mother/prostitute/rape victim?

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : Serial killer. She knew those guys were violent - that's why she chose them, to feel morally justified.

  Nora Lewin : You're saying she asked for it.

  Alex Cabot : Being the victim of a violent crime does not mitigate capital punishment. Neither does being a woman or being a mother. I-if this was a man we were talking about who was abused as a child and then, murdered four women... would we even be having this discussion?

  Nora Lewin : If you were seeking the death penalty? Of course we would.

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : I don't think so, Nora. Because executing a man wouldn't offend the female constituents who put you in office.

  Nora Lewin : Whom we choose to execute is always a political decision. But I'm not gonna kill anyone, male or female, if there's a possibility that they acted in self-defense. You don't like it... you can always run against me next term.

• Maggie's Attorney : [to Cabot]  So the kid's not hers. Why does it matter?

  Alex Cabot : Do you want to tell her how you got your child, Maggie or should I?

  Maggie Peterson : I don't know what you're talking about.

  Alex Cabot : Let me jog your memory. Eighteen months ago, 26-year-old Erin Byers went grocery shopping. Her body was found in the store parking lot, strangled. Her stolen car turned up a week later, intact. Her 6-month-old son was never found.

  Maggie's Attorney : You'll never be able to introduce this.

  Alex Cabot : Actually, it was your client who opened the door. Everything she does is for her child, right?

  Maggie's Attorney : The judge will call a mistrial.

  Alex Cabot : Fine. I'll just re-file and tack on the kidnapping charges, plus the murder of the mother.

  [to Maggie] 

  Alex Cabot : Do you think a jury is going to believe your "I kill men because they beat me" story now? Do you think the D.A. Is going to give you another pass on the death penalty? Try it.

  Maggie Peterson : Where's Joey?

  Alex Cabot : With his father who thought he was dead.

  Maggie's Attorney : Is there an offer on the table?

  Alex Cabot : Murder two on all counts, concurrent sentences, 15-to-20.

  Maggie's Attorney : What about the new charges?

  Alex Cabot : We'll talk about that after I file. You'll never get a better deal than this.

  Maggie Peterson : I'm not pleading guilty. I did not kill that woman. I found Joey. She threw him away.

  Alex Cabot : It's over. This whole motherhood facade, this lie you have told yourself and the whole world is going to be exposed.

• Alex Cabot : [to Maggie]  So every day, you wake up, you drop your son off at the babysitter's and you go to work. You knowingly put yourself in danger. You knowingly place yourself in situations you cannot control where you admit you could be killed. Is that how you love your son? Is that how you take care of the most important thing in your life?

  Maggie Peterson : I accept the risk. I accept it on behalf of that boy. I would die for him. You can question my past, you can question my life and my profession, but do not ever question how much I love my son.