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An
Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against The United
States, 1790 ("Benefit of Clergy").
In
colonial days, most of the colonies did not require
clergyman to appear before civil courts for violations
of the law. Often, clergyman were permitted to appear
before an ecclesiastical court. These exemptions were
commonly called "benefit of clergy." In Section 31 of
the Act that follows, Congress removed the benefit of
clergy. This Act was eventually carried into the revised
statutes and remained in effect until 1909, when it
was omitted as obsolete. This Act is direct evidence
of the desire of the founders of the government to carry
out their purpose of maintaining church and state separation.
RJ&L
Religious Institutions Group
An
Act of Congress
April
30, 1790
"An
Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the U.S."
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* * *
Section
31 . . . "It is that the benefit of clergy shall not be
used or allowed, upon conviction of any crime, for which,
by any statute of the United States, the punishment is or
shall be declared to be death."
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