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.
Clemency alone makes us equal to the
Clemency alone makes us equal to the gods.
Do not lay on the multitude the blame
Do not lay on the multitude the blame that is due to a few.
The power of punishment is to silence,
The power of punishment is to silence, not to confute.
One man meets an infamous punishment for
One man meets an infamous punishment for that crime which confers a diadem upon another.
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is indeed defenseless!
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.
The only real prison is fear, and the
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.
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 been studying how I may compare
I have been studying how I may compare This prison where I live unto the world; And, for because the world is populous, And here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it. Yet I'll hammer it out.
It is better that ten guilty persons
It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
Vices are not crimes.
Vices are not crimes.
The punishment can be remitted; the
The punishment can be remitted; the crime is everlasting.
Crime is a logical extension of the sort
Crime is a logical extension of the sort of behavior that often [is] considered perfectly respectable in legitimate business.
Women have worked hard; starved in
Women have worked hard; starved in prison; given of their time and lives that we might sit in the House of Commons and take part in the legislating of this country.
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.
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.
A sick person is a prisoner.
A sick person is a prisoner.
To be in prison so long, it's difficult
To be in prison so long, it's difficult to remember exactly what you did to get there.
Adversities such as being homeless and
Adversities such as being homeless and going to prison has made many people stronger.
We who live in prison, and in whose
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.
Most people fancy themselves innocent of
Taught from infancy that beauty is
Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.
Society prepares the crime; the criminal
Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it.
There are dreadful punishments enacted
There are dreadful punishments enacted against thieves; but it were much better to make such good provisions, by which every man might be put in a method how to live, and so to be preserved from the fatal necessity of stealing and dying for it.