Successful crime is dignified with the name of virtue; the good
become the slaves of the impious; might makes read more

Successful crime is dignified with the name of virtue; the good
become the slaves of the impious; might makes right; fear
silences the power of the law.
[Lat., Prosperum ac felix scelus
Virtus vocatur; sontibus patent boni;
Jus est in armis, opprimit leges timor.]

There are few better measures of the concern a society has for its individual members and its own well being read more

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.

Nor all that heralds rake from coffin'd clay,
Nor florid prose, nor honied lies of rhyme,
Can read more

Nor all that heralds rake from coffin'd clay,
Nor florid prose, nor honied lies of rhyme,
Can blazon evil deeds, or consecrate a crime.

The crime of a mother is a heavy burden.
[Fr., Le crime d'une mere est un pesant fardeau.]

The crime of a mother is a heavy burden.
[Fr., Le crime d'une mere est un pesant fardeau.]

We enact many laws that manufacture criminals, and then a few that punish them.

We enact many laws that manufacture criminals, and then a few that punish them.

Disgrace does not consist in the punishment, but in the crime.
[It., Non nella pena,
Nel delitto read more

Disgrace does not consist in the punishment, but in the crime.
[It., Non nella pena,
Nel delitto e la infamia.]

The crime and not the scaffold makes the shame.
[Fr., Le crime fait la honte et non pas l'echafaud.]

The crime and not the scaffold makes the shame.
[Fr., Le crime fait la honte et non pas l'echafaud.]

Overlook our deeds, since you know that crime was absent from our
inclination.
[Lat., Factis ignoscite nostris
read more

Overlook our deeds, since you know that crime was absent from our
inclination.
[Lat., Factis ignoscite nostris
Si scelus ingenio scitis abesse meo.]

Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty.

Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty.