Injustice stirs up wrath in a just person – otherwise its justice is corrupted. The anger is subsided by serving up justice. A just person can rest in peace if it knows that justice is about to come or has already been brought.

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

(Via John Gruber)