There are few better measures of the concern a society has for its individual members and its own well being than the way it handles criminals.

Clark’s remark frames criminal justice as a moral and civic barometer: how a community treats those who have violated its rules reveals its underlying commitments to human dignity, fairness, and social health. The quote implies that punishment is not merely about retribution or deterrence, but also about the society’s capacity for restraint, due process, and rehabilitation. By linking the treatment of “criminals” to a society’s “own well being,” it suggests that abusive, degrading, or inequitable penal practices ultimately corrode public trust and social cohesion, while humane and proportionate responses can strengthen legitimacy and collective security.