The object of punishment is prevention
The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.
A country is in a bad state, which is
A country is in a bad state, which is governed only by laws; because a thousand things occur for which laws cannot provide, and where authority ought to interpose.
Prosecution I have managed to avoid; but
Prosecution I have managed to avoid; but I have been arrested, charged in a police court, have refused to be bound over, and thereupon have been unconditionally released - to my great regret; for I have always wanted to know what going to prison was like.
Wicked deeds are generally done, even
Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.
While crime is punished it yet
While crime is punished it yet increases.
The punishment can be remitted; the
The punishment can be remitted; the crime is everlasting.
Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners
Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts.
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.
Most people fancy themselves innocent of
When you are younger you get blamed for
When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you're older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out.
Crimes generally punish themselves.
Crimes generally punish themselves.
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.
Corporal punishment falls far more
Corporal punishment falls far more heavily than most weighty pecuniary penalty.
What restrains us from killing is partly
What restrains us from killing is partly fear of punishment, partly moral scruple, and partly what may be described as a sense of humor.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.
Women now have choices. They can be
Women now have choices. They can be married, not married, have a job, not have a job, be married with children, unmarried with children. Men have the same choice we've always had: work, or prison.
A variety in punishment is of utility,
A variety in punishment is of utility, as well as a proportion.
We shall not yield to violence. We shall
We shall not yield to violence. We shall not be deprived of union freedoms. We shall never agree with sending people to prison for their convictions.
Hanging was the worst use a man could be
Hanging was the worst use a man could be put to.
I know not whether laws be right, or
I know not whether laws be right, or whether laws be wrong; All that we know who lie in gaol is that the wall is strong; And that each day is like a year, a year whose days are long.
It is better that ten guilty persons
It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
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.
Steal goods and you’ll go to prison,
Steal goods and you’ll go to prison, steal lands and you are a king.
