St. Thomas More stands out as being one of the few lawmen ever to be canonized. His love for God and fellow men urged him to pursue true justice.

One amusing example of this took place while he was deputy sheriff of London.

There was a particular judge, a harsh old man with no pity on the poor who were victims of robbery. He felt that their money purses would not be stolen from them if they were more careful.

Thomas knew that this was an unfair generalization. Being very careful does not automatically mean you cannot be robbed; and as Providence would have it, he knew of a man that could prove this point.

In the prison of Newgate there was a particularly crafty pickpocket. Thomas More sent for him. He promised to assist this man in court, and could even obtain a lighter sentence, if he would do as Thomas requested.

The next day the thief was called to court. The unsympathetic old judge was one of the presiding judges in this case. The pickpocket requested to prove his innocence by talking privately to one of the judges. The judges agreed to this request, and allowed him to come forward to the judge of his choice - the old judge Thomas More had directed.

As was customary at the time, the old judge wore his money purse on his belt. So when the pickpocket came close to whisper in his ear, it was no trouble for him to discreetly swipe the purse.

When the pickpocket sat back down, Thomas good-naturedly made an odd proposition. He asked whether the judges wanted to give an alms to the poor man, the pickpocket. Thomas began by reaching into his own purse, and the obliging judges followed his example.

Shocked to find his own purse missing, the old judge exclaimed that he was robbed.

Almost playfully, Thomas replied,

"What, are you accusing us of stealing it?"

He then called the thief, retrieved the purse, and returned it to its rightful owner.

To be sure the lesson was not lost on the judge, Thomas More said to him,

"I’d like to give you some advice. Do not be so hard on people who have had their purses stolen, since you have let yours be stolen in front of the whole court."