- Judge Haller: What is wrong with the jury?
- Dr. Sam Beckett: None of them are black.
- Judge Haller: You mean Negro?
- Dr. Sam Beckett: Uh, yes, sir. And since my client is a Negro, it only seems fair that there be Negroes on the jury.
- Bo Parsons: I object! There's never been a Negro impaneled on a jury in Louisiana.
- Judge Haller: Overruled. Leonard, there's only one problem. In order to serve on a jury, you have to be a registered voter, and, uh, since there aren't any Negroes registered in this parish, I just don't see how you're gonna to put one on that jury.
- Dr. Sam Beckett: Well, that being the case, Your Honor, since the law requires a trial by a jury of one's peers, we have no choice but to reluctantly accept these white jurors as Lila's equals.
- [first lines]
- Dr. Sam Beckett: Leaping about in time, I've found that there are some things in life that I can't change, and there are some things that I can. To save a life, to change a heart, to make the right choice. I guess that's what life's about - making the right choice at the right time.