When the Nazis came for the communists,
When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.
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.
It is the deed that teaches, not the
It is the deed that teaches, not the name we give it. Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their own kind.
No man survives when freedom fails. The
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.
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.
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.
There is a point at which even justice
There is a point at which even justice does injury.
If you share the crime of your friend,
If you share the crime of your friend, you make it your own.
What is crime amongst the multitude, is
What is crime amongst the multitude, is only vice among the few.
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.
No obligation to justice does force a
No obligation to justice does force a man to be cruel, or to use the sharpest sentence.
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.
It is better that ten guilty persons
It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
Most people fancy themselves innocent of
Liberty is rendered even more precious
Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude.
If punishment reaches not the mind and
If punishment reaches not the mind and makes not the will supple, it hardens the offender.
I have never been contained except I
I have never been contained except I made the prison.
Oh who is that young sinner with the
Oh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrist? And what has he been after that they groan and shake their fists? And wherefore is he wearing such a conscience-stricken air? Oh they're taking him to prison for the colour of his hair.
The object of punishment is prevention
The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.
The penalty for laughing in a courtroom
The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.
Justice is justice though it's always
Justice is justice though it's always delayed and finally done only by mistake.
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is indeed defenseless!
While we have prisons it matters little
While we have prisons it matters little which of us occupy the cells.
Do not lay on the multitude the blame
Do not lay on the multitude the blame that is due to a few.
The reformative effect of punishment is
The reformative effect of punishment is a belief that dies hard, chiefly I think, because it is so satisfying to our sadistic impulses.
