Zebulon Reed Brockway
"Prevention of Crime"
Crime—the term—as used in this relation of prevention, includes all anti-social conduct prohibited by law with sanctions that commit offenders into custody. For prevention there is no need to maintain distinctions as between a felony and misdemeanor; federal, state and municipal offenses; between vice and wickedness. Such distinctions, so fictitious as they always are, base on punishment measured out for retribution, they are confusing and have no proper place in the study and prescription of a pure prevention. Subjective moral guiltiness of offenders is not revealed by statutory grading of the crimes, indeed cannot be safely judged by any human judgment. What one does or does not withhold but shows the nature of the man, he neither made himself originally, nor has he, with wise forecast, fashioned that which he is at any time, therefore his inward moral state towards the author of his being, if there is of blame or praise in that relation, must be adjudged and properly rewarded by one who knows—He who created and directs him. The state would profit, in restraint of crime, if the sinful estimate of offenders could be eliminated from the statutes and from our attitude as well, leaving only to impel and guide all efforts, the principles of defense. Together with such elimination goes, of necessity, the doubtful element of feeling when unsupported by sound judgment, for it is an unsafe guide for laws and administering of laws, that kind of feeling which prompts to vengeance on the culprit, will oscillate in time, and turn to mawkish sentiment of humanity.
If, as some aver, there cannot be too much humanity, the sentiment needs, surely, good guidance of sound sense—Whately says, "That person is more truly compassionate who sets himself to devise measures for protecting the unoffending than he whose kindly feelings are bestowed chiefly on the violators of law * * * Humanity which is justly careful to avoid the inflictions of any useless suffering is very possible to be an injudicious and misdirected humanity and leads, in many cases, to such conduct as is absurd and pernicious." It further may be said sometimes leads to very cruelty.