When is conduct a crime, and when is a
When is conduct a crime, and when is a crime not a crime? When Somebody Up There -- a monarch, a dictator, a Pope, a legislator -- so decrees.
If we look at Houston, which is a very
If we look at Houston, which is a very environmentally toxic place, we find that it has one of the highest levels of young men going to prison and also among the highest levels of illiteracy in the country.
The only effect of public punishment is
The only effect of public punishment is to show the rabble how bravely it can be borne; and that every one who hath lost a toe-nail hath suffered worse.
Wicked deeds are generally done, even
Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.
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.
Those magistrates who can prevent crime,
Those magistrates who can prevent crime, and do not, in effect encourage it.
It isn't true that convicts live like
It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around.
Forgiveness, that noblest of all
Forgiveness, that noblest of all self-denial, is a virtue which he alone who can practise in himself can willingly believe in another.
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.
You stuff somebody into the American
You stuff somebody into the American dream, and it becomes a prison.
It is better that ten guilty persons
It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
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.
Self is the only prison that can bind
Self is the only prison that can bind the soul.
Three hundred years ago a prisoner
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.”
Most people fancy themselves innocent of
Do not lay on the multitude the blame
Do not lay on the multitude the blame that is due to a few.
Educate your children to self-control,
Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future lives and crimes to society.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
He who does not prevent a crime when he
He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.
The virtue of justice consists in
The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.
By noiselessly going to a prison a
By noiselessly going to a prison a civil-resister ensures a calm atmosphere.
It becomes not a law-maker to be a
It becomes not a law-maker to be a law-breaker.
Concepts of justice must have hands and
Concepts of justice must have hands and feet to carry out justice in every case in the shortest possible time and the lowest possible cost. That is the challenge to every lawyer and judge in America.
On average, drug prisoners spend more
On average, drug prisoners spend more time in federal prison than rapists, who often get out on early release because of the overcrowding in prison caused by the Drug War.
