Two crimes undid me: a poem and a mistake. 

What man was ever content with one crime?

No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes.

I’ve got some shit I’m conservative about and some shit I’m liberal about. Crime—I’m conservative. Prostitution—I’m liberal.

The criminal is the creative artist; the detective only the critic.

In its function, the power to punish is not essentially different from that of curing or educating.

The land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

Man punishes the action, but God the intention.

I'm all for bringing back the birch, but only between consenting adults.

A crowded police court docket is the surest sign that trade is brisk and money plenty.

Punishment is a sort of medicine.

After all, crime is only a left-handed form of human endeavor.

There is no crime without precedent.