Every instance of a man's suffering the
Every instance of a man's suffering the penalty of the law is an instance of the failure of that penalty in effecting its purpose, which is to deter.
A just chastisement may benefit a man,
A just chastisement may benefit a man, though it seldom does; but an unjust one changes all his blood to gall.
We're in a war. People who blast some
We're in a war. People who blast some pot on a casual basis are guilty of treason.
No obligation to justice does force a
No obligation to justice does force a man to be cruel, or to use the sharpest sentence.
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is indeed defenseless!
Nothing can be more abhorrent to
Nothing can be more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This is really the test of civilization.
Distrust all in whom the impulse to
Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.
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.
They took away my money, my family, and
They took away my money, my family, and my security. Why couldn't they destroy my ideas? We will question them in court tomorrow as we trigger The Revolution of all revolutions!
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.
To be in prison so long, it's difficult
To be in prison so long, it's difficult to remember exactly what you did to get there.
We are prisoners of ideas.
We are prisoners of ideas.
Body is a home, a prison and a grave.
Body is a home, a prison and a grave.
Society prepares the crime; the criminal
Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it.
Crimes lead one into another; they who
Crimes lead one into another; they who are capable of being forgers are capable of being incendiaries.
He was a first-time nonviolent possible
He was a first-time nonviolent possible offender, ... And under the mandatory minimums, he was put in prison for 15 years. Not only does the punishment not fit the crime, but the mandatory minimums don't give judges any discretion to look at the background of the case, to read into the specifics of the case. I don't know a judge who really is in favor of the mandatory minimums.
By noiselessly going to a prison a
By noiselessly going to a prison a civil-resister ensures a calm atmosphere.
Justice is justice though it's always
Justice is justice though it's always delayed and finally done only by mistake.
Some laws of state aimed at curbing
Some laws of state aimed at curbing crime are even more criminal.
On a planet that increasingly resembles
On a planet that increasingly resembles one huge Maximum Security prison, the only intelligent choice is to plan a jail break.
A man will be imprisoned in a room with
A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards, as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push.
In jail a man has no personality. He is
In jail a man has no personality. He is a minor disposal problem and a few entries on reports. Nobody cares who loves or hates him, what he looks like, what he did with his life. Nobody reacts to him unless he gives trouble. Nobody abuses him. All that is asked of him is that he go quietly to the right cell and remain quiet when he gets there. There is nothing to fight against, nothing to be mad at. The jailers are quiet men without animosity or sadism.
It is more dangerous that even a guilty
It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape.
