Crimes lead one into another; they who are capable of being forgers are capable of being incendiaries.
If we were brought to trial for the crimes we have committed against ourselves, few would escape the gallows.
Trial by jury itself, instead of being a security to persons who are accused, shall be a delusion, a mockery, and a snare.
Three hundred years ago a prisoner condemned to the Tower of London carved on the wall of his cell this sentiment to keep up his spirits during his long imprisonment: “It is not adversity that kills, but the impatience with which we bear adversity.”
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
In jail a man has no personality. He is a minor disposal problem and a few entries on reports. Nobody cares who loves or hates him, what he looks like, what he did with his life. Nobody reacts to him unless he gives trouble. Nobody abuses him. All that is asked of him is that he go quietly to the right cell and remain quiet when he gets there. There is nothing to fight against, nothing to be mad at. The jailers are quiet men without animosity or sadism.
The contagion of crime is like that of the plague. Criminals collected together corrupt each other; they are worse than ever when at the termination of their punishment they re-enter society.
Governments have tried to stop crime through punishment throughout the ages, but crime continued in the past punishment remains. Crime can only be stopped through a preventive approach in the schools. You teach the students Transcendental Meditation, and right away they’ll begin using their full brain physiology sensible and they will not get sidetracked into wrong things.
Justice is justice though it's always delayed and finally done only by mistake.
He who profits by a crime commits it.
Nor cell, nor chain, nor dungeon speaks to the murderer like the voice of solitude.
Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.
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.
Those magistrates who can prevent crime, and do not, in effect encourage it.
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.
The refined punishments of the spiritual mode are usually much more indecent and dangerous than a good smack.
Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.
And while God had work for Paul, he found him friends both in court and prison. Let persecutors send saints to prison, God can provide a keeper for their turn.
It becomes not a law-maker to be a law-breaker.
To make punishments efficacious, two things are necessary. They must never be disproportioned to the offence, and they must be certain.
To trial bring her stolen charms, and let her prison be my arms.
I can work for the Lord in or out of prison.
Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts.
Well does Heaven have care that no man secures happiness by crime.
You utter a vow, or forge a signature, and you may find yourself bound for life to a monastery, a woman, or prison.