 His opinions often did not cite precedents, but instead simply explained a rule based on an applicable statute or simply through elaborated reasoning.Territorial Supreme Court justices also served as trial judges until 1886, and in this capacity Wade sentenced a reported 500 men to prison and sent twelve to the gallows.An anecdote relates how Wade, trying to rid Friday of its nickname of the "hangman’s day," sentenced a murderer to be hanged on a Thursday instead.