There were a number of new territories added to the union, which brought about the need for compromises. these territories were

seward's folly (alaska)
territory gained from mexico in 1848
the wilmot proviso
the louisiana purchase

the punishment for breaking the law would depend on the conditions or the seriousness of the law being broken, if he or she breaks the law while doing some great discovery or invention then it would classify as a scientific fraud. there are other words to describe the crime but scientific fraud would be the harshest one.