Moral guilt and criminal responsibility

"It is evident that a man with a propensity to crime must be stopped, but so must a man who has hydrophobia and wants to bite people, although nobody considers him morally responsible. A man who is suffering from plague has to be imprisoned until he is cured, although nobody thinks him wicked. The same thing should be done with a man who suffers from a propensity to commit forgery; but there should be no more idea of guilt in the one case than in the other."

Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization?

Bertrand Russell

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/russell2.htm