Quotes

Care should be taken that the punishment does not exceed the guilt; and also that some men do not suffer for offenses for which others are not even indicted.

The public have more interest in the punishment of an injury than he who receives it.

Reality becomes a prison to those who can’t get out of it.

Pardon is the virtue of victory.

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

Corporal punishment falls far more heavily than most weighty pecuniary penalty.

Crimes generally punish themselves.

I never saw a man who looked With such a wistful eye Upon that little tent of blue Which prisoners call the sky.

Concepts of justice must have hands and feet to carry out justice in every case in the shortest possible time and the lowest possible cost. That is the challenge to every lawyer and judge in America.

The most anxious man in a prison is the governor.

In a civilized society, all crimes are likely to be sins, but most sins are not and ought not to be treated as crimes.

Trial by jury itself, instead of being a security to persons who are accused, shall be a delusion, a mockery, and a snare.

In prison, you get the chance to see who really loves you.

Kill a man, and you are an assassin. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill everyone, and you are a God.

I am certain that nothing has done so much to destroy the juridical safeguards of individual freedom as the striving after this mirage of social justice.

It is safer that a bad man should not be accused, than that he should be acquitted.

If you strike at, imprison, or kill us, out of our prisons or graves we will still evoke a spirit that will thwart you, and perhaps, raise a force that will destroy you! We defy you! Do your worst!

When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you're older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out.

I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.

If we look at Houston, which is a very environmentally toxic place, we find that it has one of the highest levels of young men going to prison and also among the highest levels of illiteracy in the country.

He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.

There are few better measures of the concern a society has for its individual members and its own well being than the way it handles criminals.

Clemency alone makes us equal to the gods.

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.