The only effect of public punishment is
The only effect of public punishment is to show the rabble how bravely it can be borne; and that every one who hath lost a toe-nail hath suffered worse.
I submit that an individual who breaks a
I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.
The virtue of justice consists in
The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.
He who profits by a crime commits it.
He who profits by a crime commits it.
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.
It is better that ten guilty persons
It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
A just chastisement may benefit a man,
A just chastisement may benefit a man, though it seldom does; but an unjust one changes all his blood to gall.
There is no greater punishment of
There is no greater punishment of wickedness that that it is dissatisfied with itself and its deeds.
Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X came out of
Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X came out of prison stronger.
The solution to our drug problem is not
The solution to our drug problem is not in incarceration.
It is safer that a bad man should not be
It is safer that a bad man should not be accused, than that he should be acquitted.
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.
Assassination is the extreme form of
Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.
The only real prison is fear, and the
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.
Mere factual innocence is no reason not
Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached.
What is crime amongst the multitude, is
What is crime amongst the multitude, is only vice among the few.
Body is a home, a prison and a grave.
Body is a home, a prison and a grave.
It is more dangerous that even a guilty
It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape.
There is no peace because the making of
There is no peace because the making of peace is at least as costly as the making of war - at least as exigent, at least as disruptive, at least as liable to bring disgrace and prison and death in its wake.
While we have prisons it matters little
While we have prisons it matters little which of us occupy the cells.
One man meets an infamous punishment for
One man meets an infamous punishment for that crime which confers a diadem upon another.
Before we can diminish our sufferings
Before we can diminish our sufferings from the ill-controlled aggressive assaults of fellow citizens, we must renounce the philosophy of punishment, the obsolete, vengeful penal attitude. In its place we would seek a comprehensive, constructive social attitude - therapeutic in some instances, restraining in some instances, but preventive in its total social impact. In the last analysis this becomes a question of personal morals and values. No matter how glorified or how piously disguised, vengeance as a human motive must be personally repudiated by each and every one of us.
When it comes to freedom, we are but
When it comes to freedom, we are but prisoners of our own desires.
In prisons, those things withheld from
In prisons, those things withheld from and denied to the prisoner become precisely what he wants most of all.
The power of punishment is to silence,
The power of punishment is to silence, not to confute.
