Public Executions were standard fare in late 17th-century America. To modern readers they seem unbearably gruesome.
The spectacles, overseen by clergymen, were object lessons to induce proper behavior: An unhappy end awaits those who violate the laws of the state or church.
Off-site search results for "Public Executions"...
Executive Order: Public Alert and Warning System
... exercises for the public alert and warning system; (vii) ensure the conduct of public education efforts so that State, territorial, tribal, and local governments, the private sector, and the American people understand the functions of the ...
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060626.html
Executive Secretariat
... Secretariat (S/ES), comprised of the Executive Secretary and four Deputy Executive Secretaries, is responsible for coordination of the work of the Department internally, serving as the liaison between the Department's bureaus and the offices ...
http://www.state.gov/s/es
Executive Order
... of national emergencies in Executive Order 12808 of May 30, 1992, and Executive Order 13088 of June 9, 1998, with respect to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, have been significantly altered by the peaceful transition to ...
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030529.html
