An Outlaw

Day 258 / 365

When we use the word ‘outlaw’ today, we use it to represent someone who is a fugitive, who has broken the law and now running away. But that is now what this word used to mean. The original meaning of the word is much more interesting.

In pre-modern societies, outlaw used to mean someone who will not be protected under the law. So it literally meant “Outside the law”. The act of declaring someone an outlaw was known as Outlawry, and it was one of the most severe forms of punishment.

Why was being an outlaw bad? It meant that anyone from the general public is free to do anything to you and there will be no legal repercussions. It was basically as good as the death penalty. In early Germanic law, there was no death penalty. Outlawry was the worst punishment given to anyone. Killing an outlaw was not seen as murder, and even considered meritorious.

Old English law made this even more severe. A person need not even be guilty of a crime to be considered an outlaw. If he had been accused of a crime and failed to come to the court to defend himself, he was deemed as an outlaw!

This post is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog —Why we need to rethink capitalism