Mary Frances Berry

“Public disinterest in punishing illegal vote buying means that local prosecutors rarely pursue charges against their fellow elected colleagues....Yet the inclination no matter how small, to blame the most vulnerable citizens for fraud is misdirected.....Any outrage over fraud should be reserved for the candidates who buy their votes, neglect the issues that concern the poor, and studiously refuse to implement policies that could help them.”

“The time when you need to do something is when no one else is willing to do it, when people are saying it can't be done.”

“When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe.”

“The adoring crowds and overwhelming Democratic support in the 2008 election was based largely on joy at jettisoning Bush and the appeal of electing a superbly qualified charismatic African American leader.”

“Civil Rights opened the windows. When you open the windows, it does not mean that everybody will get through. We must create our own opportunities.”

“If Rosa Parks had taken a poll before she sat down in the bus in Montgomery, she'd still be standing.”

“When it comes to the cause of justice, I take no prisoners and I don't believe in compromise.”