The thoughts of a prisoner - they're not free either. They keep returning to the same things.
To trial bring her stolen charms, and let her prison be my arms.
It is certain that the study of human psychology, if it were undertaken exclusively in prisons, would also lead to misrepresentation and absurd generalizations.
Every crime has, in the moment of its perpetration, Its own avenging angel--dark misgiving, An ominous sinking at the inmost heart.
Virtue pardons the wicked, as the sandal-tree perfumes the axe which strikes it.
Let us remember that justice must be observed even to the lowest.
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.
No written law has been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion.
The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.
Most people fancy themselves innocent of those crimes of which they cannot be convicted.
Some laws of state aimed at curbing crime are even more criminal.
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.
Wherever any one is against his will, that is to him a prison.
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.
If you treat prisoners well, they will be less angry, less inclined to violence inside prison, less likely to provoke violent actions by guards, less likely to have reason to file brutality lawsuits that cost taxpayers a bundle and waste administrators' time. And most important, well-treated prisoners will be less likely to leave prison angrier, more vicious and more inclined to criminal behavior than when they went in.
We who live in prison, and in whose lives there is no event but sorrow, have to measure time by throbs of pain, and the record of bitter moments.
Prison makes you a better judge of character. You pick up on people much faster.
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.
Crime is a logical extension of the sort of behavior that often [is] considered perfectly respectable in legitimate business.
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.
Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton.
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
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.
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 perfection of a thing consists in its essence; there are perfect criminals, as there are men of perfect probity.
