Arthur Branch
Arthur Branch is a fictional character on the long-running TV crime drama Law & Order, portrayed by former Senator Fred Dalton Thompson.
Branch and his wife have lived in New York City since the early 1980s. He was elected the District Attorney of New York County in 2002, replacing DA Nora Lewin. His administration was a sharp contrast to that of Lewin, as he had little difficulty in accepting capital punishment in certain cases, was pro-life, and condemned what he perceived to be any outlandish interpretations of the US Constitution, including the existence of a right to privacy. This often put him in conflict with Executive Assistant DA Jack McCoy, a relatively liberal centrist, and his ADA Serena Southerlyn, a liberal idealist.
While his legal philosophy is decidedly conservative, he is not blindly partisan; he ascribes cynical, political motives to drug prohibition and is not averse to seeking alternatives to the death penalty when he thinks it appropriate.
In 2005, he fired Southerlyn because he felt she was inappropriately sympathetic toward the defendant she was prosecuting. When he fired her, she revealed that she was a lesbian.
Branch, a Republican, would be the first member of that party to serve as New York County District Attorney since would-be Governor Thomas Dewey.
When Thompson first accepted the role, he was still a sitting member of the Senate (his term would not expire for several more weeks), thus making Thompson the first sitting US Senator to accept an acting position - although he had already been an actor for many years before being elected.
Scenes with a detective
Branch has thus far shared a scene with a member of a police force three times.
- Anita Van Buren in "Gaijin".
- Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes "Shaken" and "Goliath".