The Scarlet Letter

The Punishment
The victim was forced to wear a fabric “A” of bright red on the outside of their clothing for a certain period of time.  The length of time varied depending on the communities anger.

The Crimes
This punishment was assigned to one crime: adultery.  Adultery is having sex  with someone you are not married to. 

It was also assigned to one gender: women.  ​If she had the misfortune to become pregnant from her illegal relations she would be confined to prison until she gave birth.  

Nathaniel Hawthorne, an early American author, wrote a famous (awesome) novel about Hester Prynn entitled The Scarlet Letter.