<P> In 1575, a statute of Elizabeth I radically changed the effect of the benefit of clergy . Whereas before, the benefit was pleaded before a trial to have the case transferred to an ecclesiastical court, under the new system the benefit of clergy was pleaded after conviction but before sentencing, and it did not nullify the conviction, but rather changed the sentence for first - time offenders from probable hanging to branding and up to a year's incarceration . </P> <P> By this point, benefit of clergy had been transformed from a privilege of ecclesiastical jurisdiction to a mechanism by which first - time offenders could obtain partial clemency for some crimes . Legislation in the 17th and 18th centuries further increased the number of people who could plead benefit of clergy, but decreased the benefit of doing so . </P> <P> Women acquired the benefit of clergy in 1624, although it was not until 1691 that they were given equal privileges with men in this matter . (For example, before 1691, women could plead the benefit of clergy if convicted of theft of goods valued less than 10 shillings, while men could plead clergy for thefts up to 40 shillings .) </P> <P> In 1706, the reading test was abolished, and the benefit became available to all first - time offenders of lesser felonies . Meanwhile, an increasing crime rate prompted Parliament to exclude many seemingly minor property crimes from the benefit of clergy . Eventually, housebreaking, shoplifting goods worth more than 5 shillings, and the theft of sheep and cattle all became felonies without benefit of clergy and earned their perpetrators automatic death sentences . Judges retained the discretion to ask the accused to read a text other than Psalm 51 where they suspected the privilege was being abused . </P>

Benefit of clergy and sanctuary were practices in england hundreds of years ago designed to