, 1881-10-16
CALENDAR Fol, THE WEEK
NEW YORK CRIMINAL CODE

Important Changes OF, Old Usages aud
| <)nenses.
The penal code OF the State OF New York,
| which goes into effect the lst of next May,
contains many new and startling provisions.
Under it crime is divided into felony and
nlisdcmeanor.. 4 felouy is II crime which is,
Or may be, punished BY death, or in State
prison; aif other crimes are misdemeanors.
Dy tile code, all persons are presumed to be
| responsible for their acts, the burden of prov
| ing lrrcspunsibili1y being placed upon the
! person accused. Even Il child of years is
| held responsible. Morbid criminal pr0pe1lsi-
| ty is not eNcusable 1t is no defense to Il
married woman charged with crime that the
| her husband. The old crime Of 'saccessory
before tile fact" is done away with, and any
] person WHO aids or abets, directly or indi-
| rectiy, tue commission OF 4 crime, is held as
/ q principal, as well lis the one who actually
does the deed. An accessory, under the new
code. Is: one who iarbors Or aids person
charged with crime to eya,lc punishment. In
| cases Of lnisde'ne;!nor there are no accesso=
ries; all having anything to with it, or know
Ing anything about it, being elassed as pritt-
cipais. 10 offer i State executive officer
anything, no matter how small, with 4 view
of Influencing lii; action, is pnnishnblexby Il
line of 5000: and ten years. Imprisonment
10 brlbca witness is 4 felony, Anu for Il Juror
TO make j promise is Il nistensanor. To Of
Ter false Instruments III writing to he record
ed IS felony, anu to inutilate any public
document may cost 4 person $500 and Il five
change is that; !. witness will not be excused
from answering Il question OIL the ground
thai it would crmiHate him. lie must an
sWer; but his answer cannot nfterwartl be !
the making Of Il statement which 4 person |
does not know to be true is equivalent to |
making one which he knows to tic false. 4 |
person vino attc'npts to commit suicide is
Grtbi rF f,a5o 1.o-
sas ss prson Of le'fn ol wo @ ay ys5r DC be sei t tS
ihs couf +: Te fGt proerng as of 0p5ieq p1ea #
death may be punished BY twenty years in
prison; AND 4 doctor who, when Intoxicated,
makes a;nistake which results i'll teatll, IS
guilty Of mansIaushter III the second de-
gree. Tile code is particularly strict against
h!asnlleiny and profanity, which is defined to
consist, in any use Of the name Of God, or
Jesus Christ, Or the Holy Ghost, either III
; speaker or another l,crson, or in trifilng Or
speech: The punishment is a fine
Ut II for each oatll, or irreycrent use of the
name Of God. .>Nlicn profane swearing is
Peace, Mayor, Alderman, or rJudge of Il court.
any af these officials can sumlnarily impose
Ehe me, alll in addition, send the party to
risomc sGi tem ds IL sfary " y IN
hat nc cannot corrupt the morals OF the
>tiler prisoners, OF scandafize them. Sab /
is punished by 4 fine of $40, |
>nd imprisonment for five days. All Sunday
:sbof, except that Of CHARITY AMI necessity. is
1ec!arcd to be 4 violation of the day. Lib
:r'ti concessions are matte to those OF tile |
lnclent Jewish faith. Crimes against the
PERSONS nf females are punished with
Utmost Dracolian severity. 70 elope
will 4 girl under. 1li . years Of age,
"r tile purpose OF marrying her, without the {
consent Of her parents or guardians, involves
! fine Of 81 ,oOo ana Imprisonment for five
ears. What Il blow is this to the aspira-
ions OF romantic youths and maidcns! To
Imprisonment and a fine Of 5 900; and for |
eceivng Il dead body a doctor, medical stu !
ent, or any one may be sent to prison for
firec years. L special blow is aimed at the ! ="
;atlblers by 4 provision which reads: 80 a ! Il
ersOn who wins or loses at play by betting Il
t ally time the sum or value of S25 or up Il
ard, within the space Of twenty -four hours, =
punishable by 4 fine of five times the value :,
t the sum 50 lost or won," This includes -
orsc-raclng and pool-sellng. \ common =
'tinbier is ore who is Owner, agent or Sit
Of Il place, Or of any device for
ambling, or who hires, or allows the use of l.
house, room, or table for that purpose, or I,
ho sells policies III Il lottery. lie is good | n
n two years III Jail and a fine of $1,000. :.
he main features of this new criminal code
Z excellent ones, and it will not be long
.fore they will be adopted by many, If not
!, of the States i'll the Union. The OLD laws st
I'VE so many loopiloles Of escape that they | .
il to accomplish the purposes for which to
ey were designed. Most of the evils from OF
llcll we suffer seem to be touched upon by I g
is new code, and touched upon sharply. g