The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1903-01-29
THE WHIPPING POST.
The Present Law In Regard to 1t
Almost a Dead
Letter.
ITS REVIVAL SUGGESTED BY A WRITER
The Whipping Post Law Was Passed BY
the Legislature of 1882 and Can BE
Found Under Article 81, Section IA,
of General Public Laws.

gestion that the same mode of pun
ishment be revived in Maryland, calls
to mind the fact that there still exists
on the statute books of the State a
law which permits punishment to be
administered at the whipping post.
So far as applicable to Maryland, the
law has proven a dead letter one, and
has not been enacted for number of
years, but, nevertheless, the law is a
part of the code as much as the stat
utes referring to crimes of greater or
less import.
The whipping post law was passed
by the Legislature of 1882, and can be
found under article 81, section IA, of
the General Public Laws of MARYLAND.
1t reads as follows:
ANY person who shall brutality as
sa ult and beat his wife shall be deem
ed guilty of misdemeaner, and upon
presentment and conviction thereof
by any court of competent jurisdict-
ion, shall be sentenced to a whipping,
not exceeding 40 lashes, or be impris-
oned for term not exceeding one
year, or both, in the discretion of the
court.
eff any court shall order or direct
the punishment as aforesaid by whip
ping, the same shall be administe
Inv tha char;F Of 4ha oo1Dt,, ~, o;t1,
of Baltimore where the Judgment
shall be rendered, and said sheriff
shall administer the same within the
walls of the city or county jail"
On December /, 1882, Charles Foote,
colored, was convicted before Judge
Pinkney, in the Criminal Court of
Baltimore City, for cruelty beating
his wife, and the following sentence
was entered opposite the name on the
court record.
"Judgment-To be whipped 13
lashes, to be administered by the
sheriff within the walls of the jail.
Same day sentence reconsidered and
sentenced to be whipped seven lash
es, to be administered as aforesaid,
and 60 days in jail"
. An appeal was taken from the de.
cision of the lower court on the ground
of error, but the Court of Appeals,
then composed of Judges Irving, Mil
Ter, Stone, Alvey, Robinson and Rit-
chic, sustained the sentence of the
lower court. The decision of the
Court of Appeals says that the law
neither violates the Bill of Rights mol
the Constitution of the United States
as those who took the appeal held.
The clause nor cruel and unusual
punishment in the Constitution Of
the national government is not a res,
traint upon the legislative power Of
the State.
The court futher asserts that whip
ping was not cruel or unusual pun
ishment within the prohibition Of
the Bill of Rights. The act was de
clared not to be INVALID because it ap
piled to certain class in the commun.
ity. 1t was held that the Legislature
had the right to pass laws infiicting q
more severe punishment on a man fol
beating his wife than for beating
another. All other objections to the
act which the court said made whip
ping a punishment and not a shame
were overruled. In reference to pre-
vious laws on the same subject, the
court said:
The punis hment of whipping was
recognized by the statute laws of the
State under all the constitutions
down to 1864, when it was obliterated
not by direct appeal, but by force Of
the constitutional amendment abol
ishing slavery. Although the pun
ishment was usually applied to
negroes, it was applicable to whites
as well, and both after and before the
adoption of the Bill of Rights in 177t
whipping for certain offenses was i'm
posed upon white and black alike"
As far back as IT'S the whipping
post figured prominently in the ad'
ministration of justice in this State.
In that year law was passed pro
viding that anyone convicted Of
stealing goods not above the value Of
1000 pounds of tobacco should be
placed in the pillory and whipped
with not more than 80 stripes. 1t was
then considered favor to be whip
ped, for the theft must not have been
committed in the course of a robbery
burglary or house-breaking, other
wise more severe punishment, pre-.
sumably imprisonment, was the SEN
tsnce. In IT'S all branches of mill