LeBron - Feathered and Tarred

Michael Rosenberg, over at Sports Illustrated, asked the question of whether LeBron James should the "tarred then feathered, or feathered then tarred."  Tar and feathering is an old and odd form of mob justice.  Like the Scarlet "A," a good feathering makes a public spectacle of the offender.  The punishment of humiliation begins with striping the person naked (with kicking and punching in the process) and proceeds to the tedious task of tarring.  After being doused in feathers, the person was often paraded through town.  The Fredericksburg, VA Daily Star reported on January 17, 1920 (the date Prohibition went into effect) the follow:   
There was excitement at Opal Thursday night when a few citizens took Loyal S. Johnson out of a woman's bedroom, gave him a good whipping with a hickory switch, and then applied a coat or tar and feathers.  He has left the county.
By July 18, 1921, officials in Texas acknowledged that the tarring and feathering was out-of-hand.  "Secret organizations" [similar to the KKK "of the reconstruction days"] were widely using the punishment for "moral reasons."