Crimes that need not require lengthy jail sentences did leed to that. Many inocent people were wrongfully convicted. They were open to interpretarion by beroucrats and judges and other law enforcement oficials. The law books were not easily understood. Any crime even speeding or runing a red light or spiting on the sidewalk could leed to you losing your votings rights and citizenship. While society was technically still a free society, it did not feel that way.any citizen without a criminal record could vote and petition the government firwa redress of government.
Steeling a peace of bread warented just as serious a penalty as murder. Instead of light punishment, every crime was punushed by serious punishments. Instead of reasonable punishments for crimes, the pendulum swung the other way.
The public was outraged by the spread of crime and the lenient sentence fot serious crimes. This was due to outrage by the general public. In the future, criminal justice became less concerned about correcting and more concerned about punishment.
