The Magistrate Quotes

“When you leave here and I shut the door, that’s the end of it for me. How about for you? Can you drive off and not look back? Keep your eyes on the road in front of you? Because that’s where your life and future await. Not in your rearview mirror.”
― Brian Klingborg, The Magistrate

“want to call a lawyer.” “You know the drill,” Han says. Lu does. Under Chinese law, a suspect can be detained for several days before the police are obligated to file an arrest request with the procuratorate. Once the procurator has approved it, a suspect may be held for as long as 13.5 months while a thorough investigation is carried out. Suspects do not have the right to have a lawyer until after the initial interrogation, and in some cases not even until the case goes to trial.”
― Brian Klingborg, The Magistrate

“Thursday morning, Xu attends a biweekly “Police Cloud” meeting. The goal of this much-ballyhooed big data system is to take information the government routinely collects on its citizens—birthplace, address, occupation, family relations, religious affiliation—and integrate it with hotel and travel records, CCTV footage, biometrics, consumer information, medical history, and even one’s shopping habits, to predict and stop crime before it happens.”
― Brian Klingborg, The Magistrate

“The sexual abuse and trafficking of North Korean women and girls is a serious and growing issue in China. Hundreds of North Korean women defect every year, seeking relief from famine and repression, and hopeful for a better life. Go-betweens often promise them a job in a restaurant or factory—then sell them to brokers who force them into marriage, prostitution, or cybersex work. To make matters worse, the Chinese government regards these victims as illegal immigrants rather than refugees. If they go to the authorities, they are simply repatriated back to North Korea, where they will likely serve time in prison camps under horrific conditions.”
― Brian Klingborg, The Magistrate