The people and the mindset that killed 3,000 of our fellow citizens on September 11 2001, would have killed not 3,000, but 300,000 if they could have or 3 million or 30 million. We need to do everything we can within our value systems and legal structures to make sure that doesn't happen.

The only people that should vote should be legal.

Truly I never thought of myself as writing legal thrillers, and I still don't think I do. I write stories about women.

What I'm doing is writing stories about women who care about justice. They are women who think about the difference between right and wrong, what's legal and illegal, ethical and unethical, moral and immoral.

Though every legal task demands this skill, it is especially important in the effort to frame public policy in a way that is properly responsive to human needs and predicaments. The question is always: How will the general rule work in practice?