Innocence and Guilt

It is more important that innocence be protected than it
is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished.
But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and
condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, ‘whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection,’ and if such an idea as
that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that
would be the end of security whatsoever.
— John Adams