As of 1657 persons living extravagantly without visible estate or calling may be made by Justices of the Peace to acquire sureties for good behavior or go to gaol. They would also be sent to the house of correction to work for three months for the first offense and for a time specified by the Justice of the Peace for the second offense.
Anyone winning at betting or playing at cards, dice, tennis, and horse
races shall forfeit double his winnings.
Excluded from pardon were buggery with man [sodomy] or animal
[bestiality], carnal ravishment of women, and bigamy.
Husbands were responsible for their wives' oaths and fathers for their
daughters'.
Drunkenness was much punished.
- Judicial Procedure -
The Protector is the supreme magistrate of the Commonwealth, with power to pardon all crimes, except murder and treason.
Parliament was no longer a court.
Use of the torture was proscribed in 1649.
In 1652, the justices were given a salary of 1,000 pounds and forbidden to take fees or rewards. They also got tenure, thus freeing them from government pressure. Now civil justice was honestly dispensed and justices were learned and honest.