Ruminations: Palimpsests of the V.S.A.
14
6
Deut. 44-49 (“This is the law Moses set before
the Israelites” and “this is the law which Moses
set before the children of Israel.” “These are the
testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments,
which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt”).
7
The citations here are to the King James Version of the Bible. The source is http://www.biblegateway.com/. The date of the Book of Leviticus
is accepted as between 1450 and 1400 B.C.E.
http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/archive/biblicaldates.html.
8
http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm.
9
Herbert A. Davidson, Moses Maimonides: The
Man and His Works 211 (2005).
10
Vt.Const. ch.I, art.3; Chittenden Town School
District v. Department of Education, 169 Vt. 310
(1999); Beauregard v. City of St. Albans, 141
Vt. 624 (1982); First Congregational Society of
Woodstock v. Swan, 2 Vt. 222 (1829).
11
They are also listed in Exodus 34 and Deuteronomy 5.
12
The numbering of the Ten Commandments differs according to the religion or denomination,
with variations on how the first and second commandments are treated, and whether the ninth
and tenth (covetings) are considered one or two.
http://www.thetencommandmentslist.com/.
13
It is tempting to say that modern culture celebrates coveting, rather than shunning it.
14
Vt.Const. (1777) ch.II, § 9.
15
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/
aid/756399/jewish/The-613-Commandments.
htm.
16
26 V.S.A. § 4102 (registration of all tattooists
and body piercers, including those who apply
permanent cosmetics or anatomical reproduction). Branding of domestic fur-bearing animals is
not regulated, other than by a filing with the secretary of agriculture. 6 V.S.A. § 3072.
17
Vt.Const. ch.I, art. 7.
18
Den ex dem. Murray v. Hoboken Land & Imp.
Co., 59 U.S. 272, 276 (1855).
19
6 V.S.A. § 3312.
20
6 V.S.A. §§ 762, 1154, and 2721.
21
“An act relating to the labeling of food produced with genetic engineering,” No. 120, Laws
of 2013 (Adj. Session).
22
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/boom-
ing/the-clone-named-dolly.html.
6 V.S.A. § 2652.
24
9 V.S.A. § 41a(a) & (b)(8); 8 V.S.A. § 2200 et seq.
25
9 V.S.A. § 2453.
26
12 V.S.A. § 181.
27
The Vermont Code of Judicial Conduct, A.O.
10, Canon 3 (2012).
A judge shall perform judicial duties without
bias or prejudice. A judge shall not, in the performance of judicial duties, by words or conduct
manifest bias or prejudice, including but not limited to bias or prejudice based upon race, sex,
religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, and shall not
permit staff, court officials and others subject to
the judge’s direction and control to do so.
Id., Canon 3(B)(5).
28
12 V.S.A. § 1623.
29
State v. Tinker, 165 Vt. 548, 548 (1996).
30
12 V.S.A. § 5841.
31
13 V.S.A. § 2901.
32
12 V.S.A. § 518(a).
33
12 V.S.A. § 518(b) & (c). Prosecutions under this
law include Kane v. Lamothe, 182 Vt. 241 (2007)
and Hardingham v. United Counseling Service of
Bennington, 164 Vt. 158 (1995).
34
Lev. 19:18, 33; 18:5; Luke: 10: 25-37.
35
“An act for the punishment of divers capital
and other felonies,” Feb. 18, 1779, Laws of the
State of Vermont 1777-1780, 12 State Papers of
Vermont 128-129 (Allen Soule ed., 1964).
36
Laws of 1979 (Adj. Sess.), No. 152; formerly, 13
V.S.A. §§ 801, 802.
37
13 V.S.A. § 205.
38
15 V.S.A. §§ 1a, 4.
39
The practice is forbidden in New Hampshire
and twenty-four other states. http://www.ncsl.
org/research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx.
40
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_
the_law_in_the_United_States. Okay, it’s Wikipedia, but the references are all assembled with a
chart entitled, “Legality of Zoophilia in the United
States.” Ten states, including Texas, Alabama,
Wyoming, and New Hampshire, are among the
others. The practice is defined in 13 V.S.A. § 2821
as sexual conduct in the chapter on exploitation
of children.
41
“An act for the punishment of divers capital
23
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • SUMMER 2014
and other felonies,” Feb. 19, 1779, id. 128-129.
13 V.S.A. § 352.
43
13 V.S.A. § 1376.
44
13 V.S.A. § 123.
45
Revised Statutes (1840), 99, § 10; Laws of 1967,
No. 340 (Adj. Sess.); 13 V.S.A. §§ 2802-2803. In
1855, in the only reported decision on regulating
obscenity, the Vermont Supreme Court upheld an
indictment for “Amatory Letters,” “Ellen’s Letter
to Maria,” and “Maria’s Letter to Ellen,” considering the material improper to be placed on
t H