Punishment Crime facts
While investigating facts about Punishment Crime, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Margaret Dickson was hanged in 1724. She was later found still alive. Under Scots Law, since her punishment had been carried out, she could not be executed for a second time for the same crime. Only later were the words "until dead" added to the sentence of hanging.
Historically an 'outlaw' was someone who was no longer protected by the law as punishment for a crime, allowing members of the public to legally persecute them at will
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 50 of the best facts about Punishment Crime I managed to collect.
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Death sentence with reprieve, a punishment in which the criminal is given a two year suspended sentence before execution. By abstaining from additional crimes during the two years, the criminal can reduce the sentence to life imprisonment, or, by committing good deeds, a fixed-term sentence.
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A network of men and women working in the legal system have created something called "The Innocence Project" which to date has exonerated 364 innocent people serving sentences for violent crimes with punishments ranging from death to life without parole.
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The Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution abolished slavery EXCEPT as a form of punishment for crimes
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Draco, the Ancient Greek legislator who wrote the first code of law in Athens. Over time his laws were seen as increasingly harsh and punitive, which is why we say a law is "draconian" when the punishment is too extreme for the crime.
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There have been several cases whereby identical twins are acquitted of crimes even though one of them is a definitely guilty as identical twins have almost identical DNA and legal system cannot afford to punish the wrong twin for the crime.
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In 1887, it was made illegal in Canada to attempt to try to get a woman under 21 years old to have sex with you by promising you would marry her if she did. Punishments for this crime included imprisonment and whipping.
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Franz Schmidt, a German executioner from 1573 to 1617 left a diary detailing all 361 executions & 345 minor punishments he performed. The entries contain date, place & method of execution, name, origin & station in life of the condemned, & details of the crimes on which the sentence was based.
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Not a single person accused of witchcraft in America has been burned at the stake. Burning at the stake was only done in Europe, where witchcraft was a crime against the church. In America, witchcraft was a crime against the state, for which the punishment was hanging.
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In 1740, Christina Johansdotter, a suicidal Swedish woman, exploited a loophole in dogmas. Suicide leading to Hell and infanticides being punishable by death, she decided to kill a child since repenting for a crime granted forgiveness, thus leading her to Heaven after her execution.
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Saudi Arabia once surgically paralyzed someone as punishment for a crime
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Michael Cicconetti, an Ohioan judge who dispenses “creative justice”-punishments that usually fit the crime the defendant committed. These range from a man caught with a loaded gun being sent to a morgue, to a woman who abandoned kittens being forced to spend a night in the woods alone.
In ancient Rome, giving fellatio was seen as a disgusting, shameful act, while receiving it wasn't. So sometimes petty crimes were solved by punishing the criminal through forcing him/her to perform fellatio on the victim of the crime, instead of taking the case to court. - source
India has the only national flag with restrictions over its material. The hand-spun khadi cloth must be cotton, silk or wool; producing a flag without the specific khadi treading is a crime punishable of up to three years in jail and a fine. - source
Canada granted asylum to Denise Harvey, a U.S. Citizen who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for having sex with a 16 year old because it wouldn't be a crime in Canada and the sentence was deemed cruel and unusual punishment
In China, a total of 55 crimes are punishable by death. Included in the list is everything from treason, robbery, rape, and cowardice. - source
China has 46 crimes that are punishable by death, including robbery, surrender, selling counterfeit medicine, and sabotaging electricity.
In 1474 a chicken, mistaken for a rooster, laid an egg in Basel, Switzerland. The town then prosecuted it in court and later burned it alive as punishment for for being found guilty of an unnatural crime.
Thomas Jefferson supported, as punishment for "rape, polygamy or sodomy," castrating men, and cutting at least a 1.5" hole in the nasal cartilage of women for the same crimes
In ancient Japan, crimes committed that had no defined punishment in the criminal code could sometimes be punished with kusuguri-zeme, aka "merciless tickling"
In 2012, a court in Italy ruled that telling a man he has "no balls" is a crime, punishable with a fine.
It's a Crime in 15 States to Cheat on your Spouse, and some States punish both parties with up to 3 years in Jail.
