Prosecution I have managed to avoid; but
Prosecution I have managed to avoid; but I have been arrested, charged in a police court, have refused to be bound over, and thereupon have been unconditionally released - to my great regret; for I have always wanted to know what going to prison was like.
Every crime has, in the moment of its
Every crime has, in the moment of its perpetration, Its own avenging angel--dark misgiving, An ominous sinking at the inmost heart.
The perfection of a thing consists in
The perfection of a thing consists in its essence; there are perfect criminals, as there are men of perfect probity.
On average, drug prisoners spend more
On average, drug prisoners spend more time in federal prison than rapists, who often get out on early release because of the overcrowding in prison caused by the Drug War.
I just remember that disturbing feeling
I just remember that disturbing feeling of walking into that prison, the complete loss of privacy, the complete loss of stimulation, dignity.
No man should be judge in his own case.
No man should be judge in his own case.
The idea that the sole aim of punishment
The idea that the sole aim of punishment is to prevent crime is obviously grounded upon the theory that crime can be prevented, which is almost as dubious as the notion that poverty can be prevented.
You stuff somebody into the American
You stuff somebody into the American dream, and it becomes a prison.
One should respect public opinion
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.
To my mind, to kill in war is not a whit
To my mind, to kill in war is not a whit better than to commit ordinary murder.
Definition, rationality, and structure
Definition, rationality, and structure are ways of seeing, but they become prisons when they blank out other ways of seeing.
Steal goods and you’ll go to prison,
Steal goods and you’ll go to prison, steal lands and you are a king.
If two people fight on the street, whose
If two people fight on the street, whose fault is it? Who is the criminal? It is the government’s responsibility because the government has not educated the people to not make mistakes. The people have inadequate, incompetent education, so they make mistakes! It is such a fraud.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
The worst of prison life, he thought,
The worst of prison life, he thought, was not being able to close his door.
Whatever you think of de Sade, he was a
Whatever you think of de Sade, he was a complex figure and we should not look for easy answers with him. He was, strangely perhaps, against the death penalty, and he was never put in prison for murders or anything like that.
I wrote a million words in the first
I wrote a million words in the first year, and I could never have done that outside of prison.
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten
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.
Prison makes you a better judge of
Prison makes you a better judge of character. You pick up on people much faster.
The English laws punish vice; the
The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue.
History is full of people who went to
History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.
Society prepares the crime; the criminal
Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it.
No obligation to justice does force a
No obligation to justice does force a man to be cruel, or to use the sharpest sentence.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Justice is justice though it's always
Justice is justice though it's always delayed and finally done only by mistake.
