In the most developed continental nation of a neighboring planet they use methods to deal with crime, madness and degeneracy, which although in some ways would please us, in others we would find them appalling. The most dangerous hardened criminals and the incurably insane are condemned by the courts to die in lethal gas chambers. [1]
Crime was assault upon tribal mores. [2] Early methods of detecting crime consisted in conducting ordeals of poison, fire, and pain. [3]
Accidental murder was not recognized, and in the punishment of crime the motive of the criminal was wholly disregarded; judgment was rendered in accordance with the injury done. [4] Today, in Africa and elsewhere may be found primitive peoples who kill someone every time a nonviolent death occurs. [5] In the early development of their profession the shamans began to specialize in such vocations as rain making, disease healing, and crime detecting. [6] As time passed, it was learned that the severity of the punishment was not so valuable a deterrent to crime as was its certainty and swiftness. [7]