www.vtbar.org
the maximum number of lashes allowed.
“Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat
him above these with many stripes, then thy
brother should seem vile unto thee,” and
is the same number as, in the New Testament, Paul received in his journeys, as he
reports “five times received I forty stripes
save one.” 53 Curiously, the 1779 Vermont
law criminalizing rioting set the number at
one hundred stripes.54
Adultery was a crime in Vermont until
1982. Originally, it was punishable by thirty-nine stripes, burning a letter “A” on the
forehead, along with having to wear a capital “A” on the back of an outside garment
of a different color than the coat or shirt.55
At the time the law was repealed, the sanction was imprisonment for not more than
five years and a fine not exceeding $1,000.56
Ruminations: Palimpsests of the V.S.A.
is confusion”) is, according to a national survey, legal in Vermont.40 At least it is missing from our criminal laws. It was not always
so. In 1779, “if any man or woman lie with
a beast, or brute creature, by carnal copulation: such person shall surely be put to
death, and the beast shall be slain and buried.”41 Abuse of animals is forbidden under
Vermont law.42
Abuse of the disabled is proscribed in
Lev. 19:14 (“Thou shalt not curse the deaf,
nor put a stumbling block before the blind,
but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord”). Vermont law provides maxima of a year in prison and a fine of $1,000, or both, for abuse,
if you don’t know the victim is a vulnerable
adult; twenty years and $10,000 if you do.43
Ex. 22:28, Moses teaches, “Thou shalt
In
not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy
people.” For contempt of a Vermont court,
its orders and decrees, the penalty is imprisonment, of no specified length of time.44
Idolatry is forbidden in the second commandment. Indecent or obsc