Roy Barnes Quotes

A law is not a law without coercion behind it.

Do not have any doubt that I will apply the law over whoever is responsible for not complying with the law.

Law without penalty is only advise.

If you seek violence, we will seek to put you in jail.

A need for enforcement implies the possibility of behavior that violates the rules of the game. The point is that if there were no possibility of violation, then you wouldn't need enforcement.

We need, first of all, for there to be accountability, for there to be somebody who is responsible for enforcing standards and holding people's feet to the fire.

Fines have to be incentives to enforce the law. We cannot allow them to become just another cost of doing business

Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.

Failure will be sanctioned.

No form of punishment could be more effective.

Laws or ordinances unobserved, or partially attended to, had better never have been made.

Harshness towards individuals who flout the laws and commands of state is for the public good; no greater crime against the public interest is possible than to show leniency to those who violate it.

Rewarding law breakers produces more law breakers.

A law is a law, and it has to be respected.

Having rules means that sometimes people break them, and that means punishment.

You have to abide by the regulations that the regulators insist on. This is not a philosophical divide - it's a fact of life.

There will always be a rule. There will be people who break the rules. There will be consequences. We fundamentally think these things will be true for a time. The question becomes, What are the consequences? Who enforces the consequences? What are the worst consequences?

A law has to have teeth.

You could adjust the punishment to fit the infraction. Even a small fine would be enough to bring an errant government to heel.

He who leaves a fault unpunished invites crime.

Punishment is lame, but it comes.

On a royal birthday every house must fly a flag, or the owner would be dragged to a police station and be fined twenty-five rubles.

Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.

We don't want crimes committed in New Mexico falling through the cracks. This legislation ensures that there is no area of our state where crimes can be committed without consequence.

The risk to be percieved defines the duty to be obeyed.