No high priest, judge or lawyer had power to inflict capital punishment. When a man had been tried and condemned to death by the law his condemnation had to be signed by the governor of the land, before the sentence could be carried out. The mention of governor in this relation, with other passages in which the chief judge and governor are spoken of as different persons, suggests the idea that as the Nephites grew in numbers and spread over distant regions, the duties of the chief judge became excessive, and a separation was made between the executive and judicial responsibilities, and divided between two officers.
The mode of inflicting the death penalty is not stated, but we incline to the idea that hanging was often resorted to. Military offenders were, as a rule, put to death with the sword. Of Nehor it is said that he suffered an ignominious death at the top of the hill Manti, and that, before his death, he acknowledged between heaven and earth that he had taught false doctrine. Zemnarihah was hanged upon the top of a tree until he was dead, and then the Nephites felled the tree to the earth. Many of the martyrs were burned to death by unjust judges, or stoned, as was Timothy, afterwards one of the Twelve Disciples; but we regard this last act as resulting from the violence of a mob, rather than from any pretended execution of the law.
The law with regard to debtors seems to have been somewhat severe. On this point it is stated, Now if a man owed another, and he would not pay that which he did owe, he was complained of to the judge; and the judge executed authority, and sent forth officers that the man should be brought before him; and he judged the man according to the law and the evidences which were brought against him, and thus the man was compelled to pay that which he owed, or be stripped, or be cast out from among the people as a thief and a robber. If a man desired to pay, but from misfortune could not, doubtless the law contained some merciful provision in his behalf.
It is more than probable that the mode of procedure in all criminal cases very much resembled the one cited above, and from it we can gather a very clear idea of the practice of their courts, which differs but little from that of our own day. The complaint was first made, the proper officer was then authorized by the court to arrest the accused and bring him before the judge, the trial next took place, the witnesses gave their testimony, the law and the evidence were examined, the opposing lawyers were heard, the judgment was given, the sentence pronounced and lastly carried out. In times of war the military code seems to have varied according to the exigencies of the situation. As a rule, the Nephite armies were composed of volunteers. In times of great danger to the republic, enlarged powers were given to the commander-in-chief. In one place we find the statement that Moroni, having been appointed by the chief judge and the voice of the people, had power according to his will with the armies of the Nephites, to establish and to exercise authority over them; also, he caused to be put to death those of the Amalickiahites (rebels) who would not enter into a covenant to support the cause of freedom and the rights of their fellow-countrymen.
Prisoners of war were evidently treated much the same as in modern civilized nations. Indeed, in one place, the fact that the necessities of his position compelled Moroni to set his Lamanite prisoners to work, is referred to in somewhat of an apologetic tone. When such prisoners attempted to escape, they were slain by their guards. We have numerous instances where prisoners were released on parole, or on their giving such promises to the Nephite general as were thought necessary.
It frequently happened, during the days of the Judges, that the Nephites, in some of their periodical spasms of apostasy and wickedness, would clamor for changes to be made in their just and wise laws, in a manner to better suit their degraded habits and course of life. When the majority of the people were on the side of righteousness, these attempts were in vain. When wickedness abounded, the corrupt majority carried their points. The record of their history shows that in the sixty-second year of the Judges (B. C. 30) they had altered and trampled under foot the laws of Mosiah, or that which the Lord had commanded him to give unto the people; and that their laws had become corrupted, and they had grown wicked like unto the Lamanites. Seven years later the corruption of the people had become pitiable. The Gadianton robbers were filling the judgment seats, having usurped the power and authority of the land: Laying aside the commandments of God, and not in the least aright before him; doing no justice unto the children of men; condemning the righteous because of their righteousness; letting the guilty and the wicked go unpunished, because of their money; and moreover to be held in office at the head of government to rule and do according to their wills, that they might get gain and glory of the world; and moreover that they might the more easily commit adultery, and steal, and kill, and do according to their own wills.
Such a condition of affairs, in the course of time, wrought national disintegration, and would have brought about that result much sooner than it did, had it not been that, influenced by the mighty preaching of the inspired servants of God, the Nephites (or portions of them) had now and again returned to the service of heaven. But such happy periods were short-lived, and matters went from bad to worse until thirty years after the birth of Christ, when the republican form of government was entirely broken up, and the people split up into numerous tribes, each tribe caring only for its own interests, and giving obedience to its own particular chief. This state of things only continued for about four years, as during the terrible convulsions at the time of the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the more wicked portion of the people were destroyed.
FOOTNOTE:
[12] The people had doubtless other rights which we have failed to notice, or that are not mentioned by the writers in the Book of Mormon.