There are few better measures of the
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.
While we have prisons it matters little
While we have prisons it matters little which of us occupy the cells.
It is certain that the study of human
It is certain that the study of human psychology, if it were undertaken exclusively in prisons, would also lead to misrepresentation and absurd generalizations.
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.
Written laws are like spiders' webs, and
Written laws are like spiders' webs, and will, like them, only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through them.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
In my country we go to prison first and
In my country we go to prison first and then become President.
We are prisoners of ideas.
We are prisoners of ideas.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Fast closed with double grills
Fast closed with double grills
And triple gates – the cell
To wicked souls is hell;
But to a mind that's innocent
'Tis only iron, wood and stone.
It becomes not a law-maker to be a
It becomes not a law-maker to be a law-breaker.
Reality becomes a prison to those who
Reality becomes a prison to those who can’t get out of it.
Definition, rationality, and structure
Definition, rationality, and structure are ways of seeing, but they become prisons when they blank out other ways of seeing.
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap - people shouldn't read that stuff.
No crime has been without a precedent.
No crime has been without a precedent.
No obligation to justice does force a
No obligation to justice does force a man to be cruel, or to use the sharpest sentence.
In a civilized society, all crimes are
In a civilized society, all crimes are likely to be sins, but most sins are not and ought not to be treated as crimes.
Why would anyone expect him to come out
Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton.
The penalty for laughing in a courtroom
The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.
To be at peace in crime! Ah, who can
To be at peace in crime! Ah, who can thus flatter himself.
Society has used the juvenile courts to
Society has used the juvenile courts to create a caste system where there are throw-away people.
The best situation of all, and one
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.
Adversities such as being homeless and
Adversities such as being homeless and going to prison has made many people stronger.
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap - people shouldn't read that stuff.
