In Alma 11:2 we find the following point of Nephite law:
Now if a man owed another, and he would not pay that which he did owe, he was complained of to the judge . . . and thus the man was compelled to pay that which he owed, or be stripped, or be cast out from among the people as a thief and a robber.
According to Brant Gardner, it is easy to understand a judge compelling a man to repay a debt in full, but why were there two very different penalties for the same crime? It is probable that the punishments were different because they were meted out to different social classes. The lower class would receive banishment, and the upper class would be humiliated by stripping (a rather severe blow to their pride and standing in the community).
This dual system of justice is reflected in punishments delivered by the Aztec judges in a later time period. In the case of the Aztec justice system, the harsher penalty appears to have been applied to the nobility rather than to the commoner. [Brant Gardner, "Book of Mormon Commentary," [http://www]. highfiber. com/~nahualli/ LDStopics/Alma/Alma11.htm, pp. 2-3]