outlawry, outlawrie

[Eng. outlaw; -ry.] The act of outlawing; the state of being out lawed; the putting a man out of the protection of the law, or the proce by which a man is deprived of that protection, as a punishment for con tempt in refusing to appear when called into court. outlimb Formerly any one might kill an outlawed person without incurring any penalty, but now the wanton killing of an outlaw is considered as murder. In this country, in the case of notorious felons, a proclamation of outlawry sometimes i ues from either the governor of a state or the President of the United States, and the proclamation is usually accompanied by a promise of pecuniary reward for the delivery of the criminal to the authorities either dead or alive, the captor being thus left to exercise his own discretion as to the taking of life. "After the several writs of venire facias , distringas , and capias have i ued without any effect, the offender shall be put in the exigent in order to his outlawry ; that is, he shall be exacted, proclaimed, or required to surrender, at five county courts; and if he be returned quin to exact us, and does not appear at the fifth exaction or requisition, then he is adjudged to be outlawed , or put out of the protection of the law; so that he is incapable of taking the benefit of it in any respect, either by bringing actions or otherwise. The punishment for outlawries upon upon indictments for misdemeanors is the same as for outlawries upon civil actions, viz., forfeiture of goods and chattels. But an outlawry in treason or felony amounts to a conviction and attainder of the offense, as if the offender had been found guilty. But such outlawry may be reversed by writ of error; the proceedings therein being, as it is fit they should be, exceedingly nice and circumstantial; and, if any single minute point be omitted or misconducted, the whole outlawry is illegal, and may be reversed; upon which reversal the party accused is admitted to plead to, and defend himself against the indictment."Black stone: Comment., bk. iv., ch. 24.