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Judicial Corporal Punishment Of Women: Illustrations

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Boston, Massachusetts

January, 1672

Alice Thomas, a wealthy entrepreneur in colonial Boston, Massachusetts, was accused of receiving stolen property, keeping a brothel and selling liquor without a license. A big Englishwoman with blonde hair, blue eyes and a pale complexion, Alice insisted on a jury trial, believing that her status as one of Boston’s wealthy elite would protect her, but she was in for a rude shock when she was convicted.

Alice was in for an additional shock when she learned that for her crime, she was to be fined 100 pounds—about 3,000 British pounds in today’s currency. Alice realized that the fine, combined with her business being shut down, would leave her nearly destitute.

But that wasn’t all—it was just the beginning. The judge admonished Alice for her crimes saying that in addition to paying a hefty fine, she would have to stand for an hour on the gallows with a noose around her neck. As she stood there, the judge would consider whether or not to order the trap door under her feet to be sprung. If she were still alive after an hour, she would then be stripped naked from the girdle up and given 39 lashes on her bare body as she was whipped to the prison, where she would spend a year at Hard Labour.

Alice stood on the gallows with a rope around her neck for one hour, blindfolded and not knowing whether or not she would be hung as she was taunted and insulted by the crowd of onlookers. When an hour had passed, she was still standing there, but her relief at surviving that ordeal was brief. For the degrading and painful part of her punishment was about to commence. Although Boston was in the grip of a New England winter, with snow falling and a cold wind blowing, the judge’s sentence, based on the law, specified that Alice was to be stripped completely naked to the waist. and had her hands tied to the tail of a cart. So as the crowd watched in eager anticipation, her cloak was removed, then her bodice, and then her arms were slipped out of the sleeves of her shift, which was pulled to the waist along with her undergarments. Then her hands were made fast to the end of the cart.

As oxen slowly pulled the cart through the heckling crowd, she was given 39 lashes with a heavy whip. Her ordeal of public humiliation combined with agonizing, almost unbearable pain and bone-chilling cold, all combined, finally ended at the prison door.

For the next year, Alice would be set to backbreaking tasks such as spending the entire day beating hemp—and she would again feel the sting of the lash on her bare back on several occasions when she was caught violating prison rules.
 

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Ennie10 said:
Boston, Massachusetts

January, 1672

Alice Thomas, a wealthy entrepreneur in colonial Boston, Massachusetts, was accused of receiving stolen property, keeping a brothel and selling liquor without a license. A big Englishwoman with blonde hair, blue eyes and a pale complexion, Alice insisted on a jury trial, believing that her status as one of Boston’s wealthy elite would protect her, but she was in for a rude shock when she was convicted.

Alice was in for an additional shock when she learned that for her crime, she was to be fined 100 pounds—about 3,000 British pounds in today’s currency. Alice realized that the fine, combined with her business being shut down, would leave her nearly destitute.

But that wasn’t all—it was just the beginning. The judge admonished Alice for her crimes saying that in addition to paying a hefty fine, she would have to stand for an hour on the gallows with a noose around her neck. As she stood there, the judge would consider whether or not to order the trap door under her feet to be sprung. If she were still alive after an hour, she would then be stripped naked from the girdle up and given 39 lashes on her bare body as she was whipped to the prison, where she would spend a year at Hard Labour.

Alice stood on the gallows with a rope around her neck for one hour, blindfolded and not knowing whether or not she would be hung as she was taunted and insulted by the crowd of onlookers. When an hour had passed, she was still standing there, but her relief at surviving that ordeal was brief. For the degrading and painful part of her punishment was about to commence. Although Boston was in the grip of a New England winter, with snow falling and a cold wind blowing, the judge’s sentence, based on the law, specified that Alice was to be stripped completely naked to the waist. and had her hands tied to the tail of a cart. So as the crowd watched in eager anticipation, her cloak was removed, then her bodice, and then her arms were slipped out of the sleeves of her shift, which was pulled to the waist along with her undergarments. Then her hands were made fast to the end of the cart.

As oxen slowly pulled the cart through the heckling crowd, she was given 39 lashes with a heavy whip. Her ordeal of public humiliation combined with agonizing, almost unbearable pain and bone-chilling cold, all combined, finally ended at the prison door.

For the next year, Alice would be set to backbreaking tasks such as spending the entire day beating hemp—and she would again feel the sting of the lash on her bare back on several occasions when she was caught violating prison rules.
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Nicely written! :clapping:
 
Ennie10 said:
She would be an excellent choice. And her punishment should be shown with graphic details, giving the film an R rating.
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I always associate Liz Hurley with the moment when at an awards ceremony she came bounding onto the stage, braless breasts jiggling delightfully ,carrying the trophy which was to be presented by Billy Connolly, who as an aside said "They ought to make that an Olympic sport"
 
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