Historische Organisatie
Special courts
Special courts
Details
Tijdlijn van de Organisatie
The act allows a defence but bars an appeal
📅 7 Juni 1796Clause II says a prisoner pleading not guilty could make a “full defence,” personally or through another person. Yet the jury was only three white men, sentences were declared final and conclusive...
Enslaved witnesses could testify for and against one another
📅 7 Juni 1796Clause II declared the evidence of enslaved people “good and sufficient proof” for or against one another in trials under the act. If a material witness was absent, justices could adjourn for...
False testimony carries extreme penalties
đź“… 7 Juni 1796Clause IV made an enslaved witness found guilty of knowingly giving false evidence liable to the same punishment as the accused person would have faced, or another punishment the court considered...
The act prescribes public hanging and regulated the condemned person’s body
📅 7 Juni 1796Clause II prescribed public execution by hanging for death sentences and required the person to be kept free from intoxication from trial through execution. It left the body’s later disposition to the...
The state values condemned people as property and pays owners
đź“… 7 Juni 1796Clause VII required a court and jury to value a person sentenced to death, banishment, or chain labor at up to ÂŁ100 according to trade or occupation, and authorized public payment of that amount to...