Pleas

Pleas

After the sentence was passed, prisoners could make to the magistrates some pleas to improve the hardships of prison life. The approval of such pleas was subject to the payment of pezaria, an amount decided by the Magistrates in charge.

In their pleas, prisoners often requested to serve their sentence at home, to transfer to more sanitary cells, or to be able to continue managing their affairs from prison. Pleas very often regarded the price of justice costs that the condemned person was unable to pay and who therefore had to remain in prison despite having served the sentence.