This is a long looong shot, as the information I can give is sketchy at best, but I'm looking for a passage / proverb / philosophy that was quoted by a lawyer in a murder case during his summing up to the judge. The man was defending a couple of guys who had murdered in cold blood, and while not pleading their innocence, was trying to prevent the judge from giving them the death penalty. In doing so he read out a very profound passage from a book (it may have been a poem - but it does exist as I remember looking it up at the time) that preached something along the lines of taking a life as a form of punishment was of no benefit to anyone. I think the film was set in 50s/60s America and believe the quote came from some influential pacifist or Dalai Lama type character.
