Quotes

The reformative effect of punishment is a belief that dies hard, chiefly I think, because it is so satisfying to our sadistic impulses.

There are only two places in the world where time takes precedence over the job to be done. School and prison.

The worst prison is not of stone. It is of a throbbing heart, outraged by an infamous life.

Crime succeeds by sudden despatch; honest counsels gain vigor by delay.

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.

No man survives when freedom fails. The best men rot in filthy jails, and those who cry 'appease, appease' are hanged by those they tried to please.

Here the great art lies, to discern in what the law is to be to restraint and punishment, and in what things persuasion only is to work.

It is impossible to go through life without trust: That is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.

The solution to our drug problem is not in incarceration.

There is no greater punishment of wickedness that that it is dissatisfied with itself and its deeds.

America is the land of the second chance – and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.

A just chastisement may benefit a man, though it seldom does; but an unjust one changes all his blood to gall.

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.

Fear can be like a prison. It is, however, a self made prison. Many are imprisoned by fear. No one else can liberate them from this prison. Others may inspire them but they must liberate themselves.

One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.

Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass, Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, Can be retentive to the strength of spirit; But life, being weary of these worldly bars, Never lacks power to dismiss itself.

A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space.

We who live in prison, and in whose lives there is no event but sorrow, have to measure time by throbs of pain, and the record of bitter moments.

Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them.

I know not whether laws be right, or whether laws be wrong; All that we know who lie in gaol is that the wall is strong; And that each day is like a year, a year whose days are long.

I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator.

Crime is a logical extension of the sort of behavior that often [is] considered perfectly respectable in legitimate business.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

A sick person is a prisoner.

Crimes generally punish themselves.