Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass, Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, Can be retentive to the strength of spirit; But life, being weary of these worldly bars, Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
Every instance of a man's suffering the penalty of the law is an instance of the failure of that penalty in effecting its purpose, which is to deter.
If you treat prisoners well, they will be less angry, less inclined to violence inside prison, less likely to provoke violent actions by guards, less likely to have reason to file brutality lawsuits that cost taxpayers a bundle and waste administrators' time. And most important, well-treated prisoners will be less likely to leave prison angrier, more vicious and more inclined to criminal behavior than when they went in.
Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached.
One crime has to be concealed by another.
Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.
Clemency alone makes us equal to the gods.
Fear can be like a prison. It is, however, a self made prison. Many are imprisoned by fear. No one else can liberate them from this prison. Others may inspire them but they must liberate themselves.
A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards, as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push.
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.
It is hard, but it is excellent, to find the right knowledge of when correction is necessary and when grace doth most avail.
There are few better measures of the concern a society has for its individual members and its own well being than the way it handles criminals.
We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
It becomes not a law-maker to be a law-breaker.
Do not lay on the multitude the blame that is due to a few.
Crimes lead one into another; they who are capable of being forgers are capable of being incendiaries.
In a civilized society, all crimes are likely to be sins, but most sins are not and ought not to be treated as crimes.
The best situation of all, and one frequently utilized, is for jails and prisons to allow volunteer ministers of all faiths to enter prisons and offer their services to the inmates who want them. That way, the religious needs of inmates are met but without government funds being spent.
Justice renders to every one his due.
The common argument that crime is caused by poverty is a kind of slander on the poor.
Justice is that virtue of the soul which is distributive according to desert.
One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what they are and will be what they will be.
One crime is everything; two nothing.
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.
