It's better for ten guilty people to go unpunished than for one innocent person to be wrongly punished.
This quote highlights the principle of prioritizing justice and individual rights. It suggests that it is more desirable to allow some guilty individuals to escape punishment than to risk harming an innocent person. The underlying belief is that the moral cost of wrongly punishing an innocent person is greater than the societal cost of letting a few guilty individuals go free. This principle underscores the importance of fairness in the legal system, emphasizing the protection of the innocent over the pursuit of punishment for the guilty. It advocates for caution in legal judgments to prevent miscarriages of justice, reflecting a commitment to ethical standards in the administration of justice.
Quote By: William Blackstone