Because of the difficulty of enforcing these rules (which they are seemingly unaware of) the lawmakers may opt for extreme penalties as a deterrent to those who risk disobeying. (hacked.com)
The downside to the law is that many individuals are harshly punished for crimes that some feel do not merit extreme penalties. (lnlegal.com)
Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous supersti - tion, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. (religion.blogs.cnn.com)