S. Garfielde, Compiled Laws of the State of California 643-44 (1853)
Abstract
Ch. 125, div. 4, §§ 40-41: Prohibited dueling. Should the opponent be killed, violators and their seconds shall be punished in state prison for a term not less than one year but no more than five years.
Summary
These provisions criminalize dueling: participating in a duel that results in death (including all involved parties like seconds and accomplices) is punishable by 1–5 years in state prison, while challenging or agreeing to a duel is also illegal and carries penalties of 1–3 years in prison and fines up to $1,000.
Law Text
SEC. 40. If any person shall, by previous appointment or agreement, fight a duel, and in so doing shall kill his antagonist or any person or persons, or shall inflict such wound as that the party injured shall die thereof within one year thereafter, every such offender, his second, as well as the second of the person killed, and all aiders, abettors, and counsellors, being thereof duly convicted, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for any term not exceeding five years nor less than one year. SEC. 41. If any person shall hereafter challenge another to fight a duel with any deadly weapon, or in any manner whatever, the probable issue of which might result in the death of either; or if any person shall accept a challenge or agree to fight a duel, every person so offending shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for any term not exceeding three years nor less than one year, and be fined in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars.
Description
Categories
DUELING