Outlaw facts for kids

Robin Hood statue in Nottingham

An outlaw or bandit is a person who is "outside the law" usually because they have committed serious crimes.

A longtime criminal can be declared an outlaw, which means the outlaw cannot use the legal system to protect himself if needed.

Famous outlaws

• The Emperor Nero was made an outlaw by the Roman Senate in 68 AD
• Robin Hood, the English folk hero, who was probably a combination of several real and legendary outlaws.
• Martin Luther was outlawed in 1521.
• Carmine Crocco, the most famous Italian outlaw of the XIX century, an escaped convict who joined the liberal revolution of Garibaldi but returned to banditry because he didn't get the promised forgiveness. Then he became the leader of 2.000 men, heading the most feared peasant army in southern Italy at the time.
• Ben Hall, the Australian bushranger. The government passed a law in 1865 which outlawed the gang and made it legal for anyone to kill them. There was no need for the outlaws to be arrested, or for there to be a trial.
• Ned Kelly, the Australian bushranger. The government passed a law on 30 October 1878 to make the Kelly gang outlaws. They no longer had any legal rights. They could be killed by anyone.
• Jesse James (1847–1882), from the American state of Missouri, who committed a series of bank, stagecoach and train robberies in the years following the American Civil War.

Images for kids

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  Erik the Red was outlawed by the Icelandic Althing for three years (so in about 982 he went viking and explored Greenland).

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  In 1878, Ned Kelly and his gang of bushrangers were outlawed by the Government of Victoria, Australia