Law & Order (TV Series)

Hunters (1999)

Robert LuPone: Defense Attorney Mark Branson

Quotes 

• Mark Branson : For better or worse, the bounty hunter may use force, including deadly force, to effectuate a just recapture. Doug Bender's shooting was lamentable, not criminal. Ron Difka's zealousness just doesn't rise to the level of homicide

  Jack McCoy : A shooting in anger? Covering it up by killing unarmed women?

  Mark Branson : Mr. McCoy is using the first shooting as evidence of a criminal motive for the other two. Yet the first shooting was in no way criminal.

  Jack McCoy : Mr. Branson's position would give these men unfettered discretion.

  Mark Branson : They're bail agents. The Supreme court gives them just that discretion.

  Jack McCoy : Taylor and its progeny are nearly 100 years old.

  Mark Branson : And they've never been overruled. Your honor, the bail bondsman and his agent serve a legitimate societal need. Without the bail bondsman, most criminal defendants could not post bail. And without the bail agent, the bail-jumper would threaten the existence of the entire system.

  Jack McCoy : A properly trained and regulated bail agent may be a necessity, but as it stands there are no regulations. A society that tolerates or turns a blind eye to this kind of behavior is one step from barbarity.