Musar for Sanhedrin 91:3
האיש תולין וכו': מ"ט דרבנן אמר קרא (דברים כא, כב) ותלית אותו אותו ולא אותה ור' אליעזר אותו בלא כסותו
And R.Eliezer?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' How does he interpret the verse? ');"><sup>5</sup></span> — 'Him' implies withouthis clothes. And the Rabbis?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Do they not agree with the interpretation given by R. Eliezer; whence then do they deduce the exemption of a woman from hanging? ');"><sup>6</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
Prior to the appointment of the first king, the Sanhedrin performed both functions, i.e. משפט התורה as well as הוראת שעה. This is one of the reasons Moses is referred to in our traditonal sources as מלך, king. This is also why, after the destruction of the Temple when Israel no longer had a king, Rabbi Eliezer is on record as saying: "I have heard that (nowadays) a Jewish Court of Law may administer corporal punishment even when Torah law does not call for this."
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