Title 9: Commerce and Trade
Vermont regulates weights and measures
through the Agency of Agriculture. “The
definitions of basic units of weight and measure, the tables of weight and measure, and
weights and measures equivalents, as published by the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, are recognized and shall
govern weighing and measuring equipment
and transactions in the state.”23 Maintaining
accurate scales is central to commerce, and
avoidance of fraud in the marketplace. In
the Torah, Lev. 19:35, the devout is told, “Ye
shall do no unrighteousness in judgment,
in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.” In
Deut. 25:15, the edict is, “But thou shalt
have a perfect and just weight, a perfect
and just measure shalt thou have: that thy
days may be lengthened in the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
The Old Testament prohibited borrowing
or lending for interest to kin—Lev. 25:3637 (“Take thou no usury of him, or increase:
but fear thy God; that thy brother may live
with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy monwww.vtbar.org
ey upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals
for increase”). It was not so restrictive with
outsiders. In Deut. 23:20, “Unto a stranger
thou mayest lend upon usury.” But not the
poor—Ex. 22:25 (“If thou lend money to any
of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt
not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou
lay upon him usury”). In Vermont law, interest is limited to 12% per annum calculated
by the actuarial method, with exceptions
that raise the rate to as high as 21% on credit cards, but commercial lenders must be licensed by the state.24
Vermont punishes consumer fraud.25 In
Lev. 25:14, “And if thou sell ought unto thy
neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another.”
Ruminations: Palimpsests of the V.S.A.
sacrificial animal flesh to three days (“And if
any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace
offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it
shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be
an abomination, and the soul that eateth
of it shall bear his iniquity”). The punishment was ostracism—Lev. 7:21 (“Moreover
the soul that shall touch any unclean thing,
as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean
beast, or any abominable unclean thing,
and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace
offerings, which pertain unto the Lord, even
that soul shall be cut off from his people”).
Vermont has a law mandating inspection of
slaughterhouses.19 It licenses livestock dealers, and inspects farms.20 Just this year Vermont passed a Right to Know GMO (genetically modified food labeling) law.21 The marketplace is regulated now both by state and
federal inspections and rules.
Avoiding the exhaustion of the soil was
encouraged in Lev. 25:4 (“But in the seventh
year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land,
a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither
sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard”). Vermont law does not mandate crop rotation,
but through the educational wing of the
Agency of Agriculture and the UVM Extension System, the science of enriching fields
to increase productivity is common knowledge. The Bible made crossbreeding of cattle a forbidden practice—Lev. 19:19 (“Thou
shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse
kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled
of linen and woolen come upon thee”). In
1996, the first sheep was cloned from an
adult somatic cell.22 Vermont is silent on the
subject.
Title 12: Court Procedure
Oral contracts are generally unenforceable under the statute of frauds.26 In Deut.
23:23, “ That which is gone out of thy lips
thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill
offering, according as thou hast vowed unto
the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.” But the general rule
of commerce of fair dealing remains intact.
The Pentateuch describes the need for
good judges, and defines the process of
judging—Deut. 1:16 (“And I charged your
judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes
between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother,
and the stranger that is with him”). It directs
judges on how to act, and even provides an
appeal, in Deut. 1:17 (“Ye shall not respect
persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the
small as well as the great; ye shall not be
afraid of the face of man; for the judgment
is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for
you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it”). The
Code of Judicial Conduct adjures judges to
perform the duties of judicial office impartially and diligently.27
Leviticus, those who know evidence
In
must testify—Lev. 5:1 (“And if a soul sin,
and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if
he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity”). Refusing a subpoena in Vermont is
punishable by a $100 fine plus the costs of
litigation.28
Deuteronomy teaches judges not to accept testimony from a lone witness—Deut.
19:15 (“One witness shall not rise up against
a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any
sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established”). In the
criminal unit, one witness for the prosecution of perjury is insufficient, unless there is
independent corroborating evidence equal
in weight to another witness, inconsistent
with the innocence of the defendant.29
Oaths are serious commitments in ѡ