The New York Times, baffled by Delaware's obstinacy, tried to argue the state into change in an 1867 editorial. If it had previously existed in {the convicted person's} bosom a spark of self-respect this exposure to public shame utterly extinguishes it. Without the hope that springs eternal in the human breast, without some desire to reform and become a good citizen, and the feeling that such a thing is possible, no criminal can ever return to honorable courses. The boy of eighteen who is whipped at New Castle {a Delaware whipping post} for larceny is in nine cases out of ten ruined. With his self-respect destroyed and the taunt and sneer of public disgrace branded upon his forehead, he feels himself lost and abandoned by his fellows. -QUOTED IN ROBERT GRAHAM CALDWELL, Red Hannah: Delaware's Whipping Post
( Jon Ronson )
[ So You've Been Publicly Shamed ]
www.QuoteSweet.com