A country is in a bad state, which is
A country is in a bad state, which is governed only by laws; because a thousand things occur for which laws cannot provide, and where authority ought to interpose.
The mellow sweetness of pumpkin pie off
The mellow sweetness of pumpkin pie off a prison spoon is something you will never forget.
Crimes lead one into another; they who
Crimes lead one into another; they who are capable of being forgers are capable of being incendiaries.
To be in prison so long, it's difficult
To be in prison so long, it's difficult to remember exactly what you did to get there.
The object of punishment is prevention
The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.
You stuff somebody into the American
You stuff somebody into the American dream, and it becomes a prison.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
It isn't true that convicts live like
It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around.
There are only two places in the world
There are only two places in the world where time takes precedence over the job to be done. School and prison.
Pardon is the virtue of victory.
Pardon is the virtue of victory.
The worst prison is not of stone. It is
The worst prison is not of stone. It is of a throbbing heart, outraged by an infamous life.
If you share the crime of your friend,
If you share the crime of your friend, you make it your own.
The thoughts of a prisoner - they're not
The thoughts of a prisoner - they're not free either. They keep returning to the same things.
One of the many lessons that one learns
One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what they are and will be what they will be.
It is better that ten guilty persons
It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
Federal prison, if you get any of it,
Federal prison, if you get any of it, you're going to have to do 85% of it. And the reason why I called it that is because I had a friend who got sent to the federal joint and his whole... it wasn't about him being in jail. He cried about the 85%.
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.
Wicked deeds are generally done, even
Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.
They took away my money, my family, and
They took away my money, my family, and my security. Why couldn't they destroy my ideas? We will question them in court tomorrow as we trigger The Revolution of all revolutions!
He was a first-time nonviolent possible
He was a first-time nonviolent possible offender, ... And under the mandatory minimums, he was put in prison for 15 years. Not only does the punishment not fit the crime, but the mandatory minimums don't give judges any discretion to look at the background of the case, to read into the specifics of the case. I don't know a judge who really is in favor of the mandatory minimums.
Faults of the head are punished in this
Faults of the head are punished in this world, those of the heart in another; but as most of our vices are compound, so also is their punishment.
We're in a war. People who blast some
We're in a war. People who blast some pot on a casual basis are guilty of treason.
Law is merely the expression of the will
Law is merely the expression of the will of the strongest for the time being, and therefore laws have no fixity, but shift from generation to generation.
I was put into jail as I was going to
I was put into jail as I was going to the shoemaker's to get a shoe which was mended. When I was let out the next morning, I proceeded to finish my errand, and, having put on my mended shoe, joined a huckleberry party, who were impatient to put themselves under my conduct; and in half an hour -- for the horse was soon tackled -- was in the midst of a huckleberry field, on one of our highest hills, two miles off, and then the State was nowhere to be seen.
