Mikhail Lermontov Quotes

We're recycling very dangerous criminals over and over again.

A judge who cannot punish, associates himself in the end with the criminal.

To the criminals and all their accomplices, I, today, humbly and as a brother, repeat: convert yourselves to love and justice. It is possible to return to honesty. The tears of the mothers of Naples are asking this of you.

For 30 years I have tried to make it understood that there are no criminals.

Criminals, people who commit crimes, usually society rejects these people. They are also part of our society. Give them some form of punishment to say they were wrong, but show them they are part of society and can change. Show them compassion.

Punishment can do a lot for criminals, and send a message to the rest of society.

We need to incorporate that age-old concept of redemption into the work that we do in the criminal justice system in California.

We lose our right to be surprised that California has the highest recidivism rate in the country if we refuse to hire folks who have taken responsibility for their crimes and have done their time.

Even the vilest criminal remains a human being possessed of common human dignity.

The purpose of punishment is fulfilled, crime is repressed by penalties of just, not tormenting, severity, its repetition is prevented, and hope is given for the reformation of the criminal.

The abolition of death penalty would give more opportunities for pastoral work with those who have stumbled and for the latter to repent. It is also evident that punishment by death cannot be reformatory; it also makes misjudgement irreparable

We don't live in a world where, if you commit a crime, your life's over. We as a society believe in rehabilitation. We believe in second and third chances.

We are a humane society, and one which believes that we have to help rehabilitate offenders so they turn away from crime.

Criminals should be punished, not fed pastries.

Our criminal institutions are full of creeps like you who do wrong things, and many of them were driven to these crimes by the horrible force called music.

The criminal left belongs not in a dormitory, but in a penitentiary.

PARDON, v. To remit a penalty and restore to the life of crime. To add to the lure of crime the temptation of ingratitude.

I've come to understand and to believe that each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done. I believe that for every person on the planet. I think if somebody tells a lie, they're not just a liar. I think if somebody takes something that doesn't belong to them, they're not just a thief. I think even if you kill someone, you're not just a killer. And because of that, there's this basic human dignity that must be respected by law.

Our crime against criminals lies in the fact that we treat them like rascals.

justice is not only the way we punish those who do wrong. It is also the way we try to save them.

You may not like my burglar, but please don't damage him.

We think of our prison inmates as the dregs of society, and we scorn them and push them off to the side and forget about them. We have to remember that they are humans, and they have rights, and yes, they did wrong, but we all have one shot at doing wrong, you know?

For one crime which is expiated in prison ten thousand are committed thoughtlessly by those who condemn.

people are more than the worst thing they have ever done in their lives

Your Majesty would have a perfect right to strike off his head," said Peridan. "Such an assault as he made puts him on a level with assassins." "It is very true," said Edmund. "But even a traitor may mend. I have known one that did." And he looked very thoughtful.