If freedom makes social progress possible, so social progress strengthens and enlarges freedom. The two are inseparable partners in the great adventure of humanity.
Robert KennedyRead
Circumstances of crimes vary. So do motives. And so do prospects for rehabilitation. The number of imponderables makes it impossible to sentence by formula and still sentence justly.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The complexities of circumstances and motives in crimes make it difficult to establish a fair sentencing formula.
Robert Kennedy highlights the intricacies involved in understanding crimes, suggesting that each case is unique due to the varying circumstances, motives, and potential for rehabilitation. He argues that relying on a formulaic approach to sentencing fails to account for these nuances and ultimately undermines the pursuit of justice.
Themes
JusticeRehabilitationCrimeSentencingMotivesCircumstances
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the legal system at a community meeting.
More from Robert Kennedy
All quotes βElections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy.
Robert KennedyRead
Within the United States, we have put great emphasis upon political freedoms. Because it has been our experience that these freedoms can lead to others.
Robert KennedyRead
It is one thing to open job opportunities. It is another to train people to fill them, or to persuade American enterprise to seek Negro as well as white applicants.
Robert KennedyRead
Our attitude towards immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as the talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances.
Robert KennedyRead
The Gross National Product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America - except whether we are proud to be Americans.
Robert KennedyRead
Similar quotes
It cannot bring back and make whole those who suffered and died by a racist's criminal hand. But it can at least reaffirm our nation's commitment to seek the truth and make equal justice a reality.
Christopher DoddRead
I think our criminal justice system has two problems. We have systematic problems and we have people problems. So if the hearts of people are not about justice than any system you have won't work.
Maya MooreRead
An act of justice closes the book on a misdeed; an act of vengeance writes one of its own
Marilyn Vos SavantRead
The jury system has come to stand for all we mean by English justice. The scrutiny of 12 honest jurors provides defendants and plaintiffs alike a safeguard from arbitrary perversion of the law.
Winston ChurchillRead
It is indeed an odd business that it has taken this Court nearly two centuries to discover a constitutional mandate to have counsel at a preliminary hearing.
Warren E. BurgerRead
From the beginning, Mandela and Tambo was besieged with clients. We were not the only African lawyers in South Africa, but we were the only firm of African lawyers. For Africans, we were the firm of first choice and last resort.
Nelson MandelaRead