A clear distinction must be introduced between the judgment of the judge about the guilt according to the relevant paragraph of the law and the corresponding determination of facts, on the one hand, and the judgment about human guilt on the other hand. We are not to think, however, that the latter has been set aside; rather, through this distinction man's guilt will come to a more exact declaration. When he receives the declaration of guilt from the judge, the criminal himself has to take the guilt upon himself, and only the loss of the soundness of his mind can exempt him from it.
Hermann Cohen, Religion of Reason Out of the Sources of Judaism. Kaplan, tr. Scholars Press (Atlanta: 1995) p. 167. Emphasis in original.
