Original sentence: " Maimonides argued that executing a defendant on anything less than absolute certainty would lead to a slippery slope of decreasing burdens of proof, until we would be convicting merely "according to the judge's caprice.An oft-cited legal maxim from his pen is: "It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death
Edited sentence: " (Caprice of all kinds are more visible now with computers, statistics, DNA evidence, and new discovery laws directed at prosecutors' files.)  Maimonides was concerned about the need for the law to guard itself in public perceptions to preserve its majesty and retain the people's respect.In law schools everywhere, students encounter his now famous sentence,.It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death.Maimonides argued that executing a defendant on anything less than absolute certainty would lead to a slippery slope of decreasing burdens of proof, until we would be convicting merely "according to the judge's caprice