Ruminations: Palimpsests of the V.S.A.
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ancient and the modern world—Lev. 19:12
(“And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of
thy God”). “So help me God” is no longer
the default ending to the oath for truthfulness; “under the pains and penalties of perjury” is a fit substitute “when the person to
whom the obligation is administered is religiously scrupulous of swearing.”30 The ninth
commandment forbids false witness. Perjury is a crime punishable by up to fifteen
years in prison and a fine of not more than
$10,000.31
Title 12, there is a duty not to stand
In
by in emergencies. It is known as the Good
Samaritan law. “A person who knows that
another is exposed to grave physical harm
shall, to the extent that the same can be
rendered without danger or peril to himself
or without interference with important duties owed to others, give reasonable assistance to the exposed person unless that assistance or care is being provided by others.”32 There is a fine of $100 for not assisting, and a general immunity from liability for
providing reasonable assistance, unless you
are grossly negligent or take money for the
service.33
Basing the lesson on the commandment
in Leviticus to “love thy neighbor as thyself,” the Book of Luke in the New Testa-
ment relates the story of a certain lawyer
who asks Jesus about eternal life. How does
he inherit it? “What is written in the law?”
Jesus answers with a parable, relating how
a man from Jericho was beaten and robbed,
and left on the side of the road, and how
a priest and then a Levite walk on by, until the Samaritan “went to him, and bound
up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and
set him on his own beast, and brought him
to an inn, and took care of him. And on the
morrow when he departed, he took out two
pence, and gave them to the host, and said
unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again,
I will repay thee more.”34 The Samaritan, a
stranger, showed compassion toward the
sufferer. In Vermont, the priest and the Levite would be liable to be fined for not stopping.
Title 13: Crimes
The biblical prohibition against blasphemy is found in Lev. 24:16 (“And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall
surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the
stranger, as he that is born in the land, when
he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall
be put to death”). It was a capital offense.
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • SUMMER 2014
The first Vermont law against blasphemy
was also punishable by death. Enacted in
1779 it prohibited using the “name of God
the Father, Son, or Holy Ghost, with direct,
express, presumption, and high-handed
blasphemy.”35 Before its repeal in 1980, the
punishment had been reduced to a fine of
not more than $200, the same amount as
for defaming a court of justice or a judge
or justice.36
The Bible is clear on the issue of incest.
Those rules dictate who may marry, and who
may “uncover another’s nakedness,” believed to mean the intimate act. The heart
of it is in Lev. 18:7-18. Marriages and intercourse with parents, stepparents, siblings’
spouses, siblings, aunts, uncles, daughtersin-law and sons-in-law, all are forbidden. In
Vermont law, intermarriage of or fornication
by persons prohibited to marry in punishable by five years or $1,000, or both.37 This
prohibition is duplicated in Title 15, voiding
all such marriages to a parent, grandparent,
child, grandchild, sibling, sibling’s child, or
parent’s sibling.38 First cousins were not forbidden partners in the Old Testament, nor
are they under Vermont law.39
Bestiality, forbidden in Lev. 18:23 (“Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile
thyself therewith: neither shall any woman
stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it
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