Among the judicial officers of the time was one Ōoka Tadasuke, whose acumen in judging offenses was so remarkable that the people credited him with almost supernatural ability. Many of his judgments were such as to be thought worthy of perpetual record. As to the punishments commonly inflicted, we find manacling, scourging, and exile, the most severe being transportation to a distant island and death. The degree of punishment in the same class varied with the nature of the crime. There were also other punishments, as branding, public exposure, confiscation of property, and the like. In the case of _samurai_, it was assumed that, being sufficiently conversant with the code of etiquette and the principles of morality, minor penalties were not required for their control. Hence the methods resorted to with them were confinement to their own residences, shutting them off from general intercourse, dismissal from office, or compulsory suicide. _Samurai_ who had been guilty of an offense were first degraded from their class and then suitably punished. With regard to priests, also, special penalties were applied; as, for example, exposure to public view, expulsion from the temple at which they officiated, or absolute suspension from religious duties. In all the fiefs care was taken to preserve a close relation between local penalties and those inflicted by the central government, but differences in the degree of severity exercised made themselves apparent in the sentences of different judges, and further, since the judiciary was not independent of the executive, miscarriages of justice were not infrequent.