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.
As we grow in wisdom, we pardon more
As we grow in wisdom, we pardon more freely.
Care should be taken that the punishment
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.
If you strike at, imprison, or kill us,
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!
The law does not pretend to punish
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I
I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account, for one night; and, as I stood considering the walls of solid stone, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up...I saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one to climb or break through, before they could get to be as free as I was. I did not for a moment feel confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar.
One of the problems that the marijuana
One of the problems that the marijuana reform movement consistently faces is that everyone wants to talk about what marijuana does, but no one ever wants to look at what marijuana prohibition does. Marijuana never kicks down your door in the middle of the night. Marijuana never locks up sick and dying people, does not suppress medical research, does not peek in bedroom windows. Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.
In the halls of justice, the only
In the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls.
Crimes lead one into another; they who
Crimes lead one into another; they who are capable of being forgers are capable of being incendiaries.
Concepts of justice must have hands and
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.
Money will determine whether the accused
Money will determine whether the accused goes to prison or walks out of the courtroom a free man.
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.
Most people fancy themselves innocent of
Reality becomes a prison to those who
Reality becomes a prison to those who can’t get out of it.
The object of punishment is prevention
The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.
Justice renders to every one his due.
Justice renders to every one his due.
I know not whether laws be right, or
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.
Organized crime in America takes in over
Organized crime in America takes in over forty billion dollars a year. This is quite a profitable sum, especially when one considers that the Mafia spends very little for office supplies.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Extreme justice is extreme injustice.
Extreme justice is extreme injustice.
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.
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.
It is not at the table, but in prison,
It is not at the table, but in prison, that you learn who your true friends are.
Self is the only prison that can bind
Self is the only prison that can bind the soul.
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.
