Moreover, in the system of criminal punishment in the libertarian world, the emphasis would never be, as it is now, on 'society's' jailing the criminal; the emphasis would necessarily be on compelling the criminal to make restitution to the victim of his crime. The present system, in which the victim is not recompensed but instead has to pay taxes to support the incarceration of his own attacker — would be evident nonsense in a world that focuses on the defense of property rights and therefore on the victim of crime.

If life was fair ... One third of the people would comprise of judges and lawyers ... One third of police and prison officials ... And one third of legislators ... And one third more to make the other three thirds make any sense at all .... Thank goodness for no fair.

Crack had a social logic to it, a specific kind of reasoning that drew from a vast well of common experience for its symbolic resonance. Crack stood for pain and power, chaos and order, the truth behind the lie. Crack was a sociolegal logic grounded in blood.

All is in a man's hands and he lets it all slip from cowardice, that's an axiom. It would be interesting to know what it is men are most afraid of. Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what they fear most… .

Franny understood then that grace was not like a present. It could not be given, and it could not be taken away.

Crime? What crime? ... My killing a loathsome, harmful louse, a filthy old moneylender woman ... And you call that a crime?

A society with a great number of prisons is a totally failed society because it has terribly failed to create a marvellous society where crime is not something widespread but an exception!

Every transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense of reward, except with those who truly love themselves.

I get it. I haven't seen much of the real world yet. But let's say I do get out there... And it turns out that it's not even worth seeing? Or even worse.. What if it's so ugly and cruel that I can barely stand to look? What if I only meet idiots and the depraved? What's that going to teach me? What can I learn from that?

Crime and punishment can be summed up in two classifications: there are bad people and there are people who get into bad situations. The lines for liberation and rehabilitation should first begin with the people who get into bad situations.