Wade H. Ellis Quotes

Simply put, violent criminals break the law - any law - every day with impunity.

I'd like to continue being involved with issues that animated my time as attorney general - criminal-justice reform and civil rights especially. I don't just want to give speeches; I'd like to involve myself in this work in a systematic way.

You can't ever win the war on crime, or the war on terror. You can't repeal human nature.

As governor, there isn't a lot I can do beyond that to crack down on crime. Law enforcement is really a local issue. It's the cops' job to tighten down on criminals.

I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream.

As a former attorney general. I have the greatest respect for the criminal justice system. But it is not good at intelligence gathering.

I think that crime is a good vehicle for looking at society in general because the nature of the crime novel means that you draw on a wide group of social possibilities.

The vast majority of A.D.A.s put everything on the line to make sure justice is served. That's what I love about prosecutors and the New York police.

Cops and robbers resemble each other, so there's not a lot to learn in terms of learning the logistics of committing the crime or investigating the crime.

We spend an awful lot of money on the criminal justice system that could better be spent at the other end of the spectrum.

Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime.

America is a dirty rag if it will not protect all of its citizens.

In politics heaven lies at the feet of the poor masses.

Excessive economic and social disparity between individuals and peoples of the one human race is a source of scandal and militates against social justice, equity, human dignity, as well as social and international peace.

Our criminal justice system affirmatively depends on inequality.

How vainly shall we endeavor to repress crime by our barbarous punishment of the poorer class of criminals.

Law enforcement, however, in defeating the criminal, must maintain inviolate the historic liberties of the individual.

I am not yet ready to agree that America is so possessed with evil that we must level all constitutional barriers to give our civil authorities the tools to catch criminals.

The time for the State to protect himself against the criminal is before the criminal is made. Most criminals are not born, they are made.... What a State really punishes in a criminal is its own neglect, it's own failure to do its duty to the citizens.

For the middle class, the police protect property, give directions, and help old ladies. For the urban poor, the police are those who arrest you.

The United States imprisons many non-violent offenders who could instead be required to pay fines, perform community service, and make restitution to their victims… Maintaining our vast network of prisons consumes resources that could be better spent on education and other crime prevention efforts... Rather than reforming offenders, prison too often degrades and dehumanizes prisoners, making the task of rehabilitation and reentry into society even more difficult.

[We have to make] a distinction between dangerous violent criminals and people who are engaged in non-violent criminal activities….Your taking somebody out of the economy, breaking up their families, and putting them in a place with hardened criminals. I think that it is pretty hard to argue that has been a positive long-term result.

If we have to build more prisons, it means we have failed.

The thief or swindler who has gained great wealth by his delinquency has a better chance than the small thief of escaping the rigorous penalty of the law.

For me, crime fiction was an opportunity to sneak up on readers with social issues, something they won't go out of their way to seek.