ABSTRACT
There are some crimes that are frequent in society and at the same time difficult to prove, and in these the difficulty of proof lies in the probability of innocence. Since in these cases the harm deriving from impunity is much less a concern because the frequency of the crimes' occurrence depends on principles different from the danger of impunity, the time allowed both for judicial enquiry and for starting criminal prosecution must diminish equally. Adultery is a crime that, considered politically, has its own force and direction for two reasons: the laws of men vary and the very strong attraction that pulls one sex to the other. The crime of pederasty is so severely punished by the laws and so easily subjected to the torments that dominate innocence, that it derives less from the needs of man isolated and free than from the passions of a man in society and a slave.
