#1 Free Legal Website FindLaw.com is the leading and largest online resource for legal information. For basic legal issues to more complex ones, you’ll find thousands of helpful articles, a legal community to get answers to your specific questions, an attorney directory, blogs, news, DIY forms, and much more.
Histor y of Death Penalty Laws The first recognized death penalty laws date backtoeighteenth centuryB.C.and can be found in the Code of King Ham- maurabi of Babylon. The Hammurabi Code prescribed the death penalty for overtwenty different offenses.The death penalty was also partofthe Hittite Code in the four teenth centur y B.C. The Draconian Code of Athens,insev enth century B.C.,made death the lone punishment for all crimes.Inthe fifth centuryB.C., the Roman Lawofthe TwelveTablets also contained the death penalty.Death sentences were carried out bysuch means as beheading, boiling in oil, bur ying alive, burning, crucifixion, disembowelment, drowning, flaying alive, hanging, impalement, stoning, strangling, being thrown to wild animals,and quarter ing (being tornapar t). In Britain, hanging became the usual method of execution in the tenth centuryA.D.Inthe eleventh century, William the Conqueror would not allowpersons to be hanged or otherwise executed for anycrime,except in times of war.How ever, this trend did not last long. As manyas72,000 people were executed in the sixteenth centurydur ing the reign of Henry VIII. Common execution methods used during this time included boiling, bur ning at the stake, hanging, beheading, and drawing and quarter ing. Various capital offenses included marrying a Jew, not confessing to a crime,and treason. The number of capital crimes in Britain increased throughout the next twocentur ies.Bythe 1700s,overtwo hundred cr imes were punishable bydeath in Britain, including stealing, cutting down a tree,and robbing a rabbit warren. However, due to the severity of the death penalty,manyjur ies would not convict defendants if offenses were not serious.Such prac- tices led to early refor m of Britain’sdeath penalty.From 1823 to 1837, the death sentence was eliminated for overhalf of the crimes previously punishable bydeath. FINDLAW.COMThe FindLaw Guide to Online Fraud EMPOWERS and Identity Theft PEOPLE WITH TRUSTED, TIMELY AND INTELLIGENT LEGAL INFORMATION
BLOGS – FindLaw Blogs present timely news that has real-life implications, deliver important information and discuss law-related entertainment.
FINDLAW ANSWERS – A vibrant, interactive online community where everyday people can ask legal questions and get real-time answers from legal professionals and others with similar experiences. DO-IT-YOURSELF FORMS & CONTRACTS – FindLaw. com provides accurate legal documents for common NEWS & NEWSLETTERS – Updated throughout the legal matters. Choose from a library of easy-to-use, day and night and covering a wide range of legal low-cost, accurate legal forms for everyday legal issues. topics, FindLaw.com’s News page presents current legal news, keeping people informed and educated. FINDLAW VIDEO – On FindLaw.com, you’ll find an online directory of more than 1,500 short videos FIND A LAWYER – An easy-to-search database dedicated exclusively to legal topics and attorney and of more than one million lawyers and law firms. It law firm profiles. provides detailed information, enabling people to contact a qualified lawyer when they are ready.
Connect With Us FindLaw.com has an entire social media team HAVE A LEGAL QUESTION? dedicated to providing our users with as many NEED TO FIND AN AFFORDABLE, options as possible to join, participate in, and learn QUALIFIED ATTORNEY? from the FindLaw community. Some of the social key channels are the following: Protect yourself, your family or
your business with a legal plan • FindLaw for Consumers on Facebook or form from LegalStreet Making the law easy to access with interactive legal updates aimed at starting conversations, informing followers of their legal rights and providing a forum for questions and resources
• @FindLawConsumer on Twitter Tweeting interesting, entertaining and informative legal news everyday
Copyright © 2013 FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters business. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The use and distribution of this article is subject to the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license, which Learn More: Tips to Help Protect Your Identity, Protect Find a Consumer Protection can be viewed at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.Yourself You must from attribute Online theAuction article Fraud, by Stolen Identity: Attorney Near You providing the title of the article, FindLaw copyright notice and link toWhat the original to Do work. You may not Follow us on use the article for commercial purposes and you may not alter or transform this article in any way. A Thomson Reuters Business