Those magistrates who can prevent crime, and do not, in effect encourage it.
To seek the redress of grievances by going to law, is like sheep running for shelter to a bramble bush.
Organized crime in America takes in over forty billion dollars a year. This is quite a profitable sum, especially when one considers that the Mafia spends very little for office supplies.
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap - people shouldn't read that stuff.
How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Prison, dungeons, blessed places where evil is impossible because they are the crossroads of all the evil in the world. One cannot commit evil in hell.
It becomes not a law-maker to be a law-breaker.
You utter a vow, or forge a signature, and you may find yourself bound for life to a monastery, a woman, or prison.
Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.
It is true you cannot eat freedom and you cannot power machinery with democracy. But then neither can political prisoners turn on the light in the cells of a dictatorship.
There are only two places in the world where time takes precedence over the job to be done. School and prison.
The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.
Care should be taken that the punishment does not exceed the guilt; and also that some men do not suffer for offenses for which others are not even indicted.
A variety in punishment is of utility, as well as a proportion.
It is not at the table, but in prison, that you learn who your true friends are.
When it comes to freedom, we are but prisoners of our own desires.
To make punishments efficacious, two things are necessary. They must never be disproportioned to the offence, and they must be certain.
In a civilized society, all crimes are likely to be sins, but most sins are not and ought not to be treated as crimes.
We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.
