Philadelphia (1993)

Roberta Maxwell: Judge Tate

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Andrew Beckett : [making their cases before the judge in her office]  This 'pestilent dust' that council refers to has appeared on only three occasions. Each time it was tested and the results: limestone. It's messy, but innocuous.

  Joe Miller : [leans in toward Andrew]  Innocuous?

  Andrew Beckett : Defined by Webster's as 'harmless.'

  Joe Miller : I know what it means. May I?

  [takes the packet of dust] 

  Joe Miller : Thank you. Your honor

  [takes a whiff of the dust] 

  Joe Miller : , imagine how the children in this neighborhood are being made to feel: the constant pounding o-of construction ringing in their ears as this skyscraper - a *tribute* to mankind's greed - grows daily; casting an ominous shadow over their lives, filling them with dread even as they are surrounded by this toxic dust.

  Andrew Beckett : Y-Your honor, Kendell Construction builds neighborhoods; it doesn't *destroy* them. Granting a restraining order against this construction site will throw 753 Philadelphians out of work and lend validation to this contemptable groundless nuisance suit. It's an example of the rapacious litigation that, today, is tearing at the very fabric of our society.

  Judge Tate : Let's not go off the deep end gentlemen. You've made an articulate and compelling presentation Mr. Miller, but I don't believe you've proven irreparable harm.

  Joe Miller : Not yet your honor.