Quotes

One crime has to be concealed by another.

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.

No written law has been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion.

I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement.

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.

The only difference between me and my fellow actors is that I've spent more time in jail.

When is conduct a crime, and when is a crime not a crime? When Somebody Up There -- a monarch, a dictator, a Pope, a legislator -- so decrees.

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.

Every crime has, in the moment of its perpetration, Its own avenging angel--dark misgiving, An ominous sinking at the inmost heart.

One man meets an infamous punishment for that crime which confers a diadem upon another.

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.

Clemency alone makes us equal to the gods.

I just remember that disturbing feeling of walking into that prison, the complete loss of privacy, the complete loss of stimulation, dignity.

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.

When it comes to freedom, we are but prisoners of our own desires.

To seek the redress of grievances by going to law, is like sheep running for shelter to a bramble bush.

Women now have choices. They can be married, not married, have a job, not have a job, be married with children, unmarried with children. Men have the same choice we've always had: work, or prison.

Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.

Well, I don't think prisons are the answer to everything, obviously.

I was put into jail as I was going to the shoemaker's to get a shoe which was mended. When I was let out the next morning, I proceeded to finish my errand, and, having put on my mended shoe, joined a huckleberry party, who were impatient to put themselves under my conduct; and in half an hour -- for the horse was soon tackled -- was in the midst of a huckleberry field, on one of our highest hills, two miles off, and then the State was nowhere to be seen.

The solution to our drug problem is not in incarceration.

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.

If punishment reaches not the mind and makes not the will supple, it hardens the offender.

We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why not legalize it and then tax it out of business.

Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.