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.
Nor cell, nor chain, nor dungeon speaks
Nor cell, nor chain, nor dungeon speaks to the murderer like the voice of solitude.
Liberty is rendered even more precious
Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude.
Society prepares the crime; the criminal
Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it.
It is the spirit and not the form of law
It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.
Civilization is maintained by a very few
Civilization is maintained by a very few people in a small number of places and we need only some bombs and a few prisons to blot it out altogether.
Distrust all in whom the impulse to
Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.
Justice is that virtue of the soul which
Justice is that virtue of the soul which is distributive according to desert.
It was only when I lay there on the
It was only when I lay there on the rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not between states nor between social classes nor between political parties, but right through every human heart, through all human hearts. And that is why I turn back to the years of my imprisonment and say, sometimes to the astonishment of those about me, bless you, prison, for having been a part of my life.
When it comes to freedom, we are but
When it comes to freedom, we are but prisoners of our own desires.
We are prisoners of ideas.
We are prisoners of ideas.
They were being driven to a prison,
They were being driven to a prison, through no fault of their own, in all probability for life. In comparison, how much easier it would be to walk to the gallows than to this tomb of living horrors!
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 don't like jail, they got the wrong
I don't like jail, they got the wrong kind of bars in there.
The uneven impact of actual enforcement
The uneven impact of actual enforcement measures tends to mirror and reinforce more general patterns of discrimination (along socioeconomic, racial and ethnic, sexual, and perhaps generational lines) within the society. As a consequence, such enforcement (ineffective as it may be in producing conformity) almost certainly reinforces feelings of alienation already prevalent within major segments of the population.
We don't seem to be able to check crime,
We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why not legalize it and then tax it out of business.
Clemency alone makes us equal to the
Clemency alone makes us equal to the gods.
The only difference between me and my
The only difference between me and my fellow actors is that I've spent more time in jail.
The solution to our drug problem is not
The solution to our drug problem is not in incarceration.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
You utter a vow, or forge a signature,
You utter a vow, or forge a signature, and you may find yourself bound for life to a monastery, a woman, or prison.
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is indeed defenseless!
Hanging was the worst use a man could be
Hanging was the worst use a man could be put to.
They took away my money, my family, and
They took away my money, my family, and my security. Why couldn't they destroy my ideas? We will question them in court tomorrow as we trigger The Revolution of all revolutions!
Two men look out the same prison bars;
Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.