76. A Bill Prescribing the Punishment of Those Who Sell Unwholesome Meat or Drink, 18 June 1779

76. A Bill Prescribing the Punishment of Those Who Sell Unwholesome Meat or Drink

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that a butcher1 that selleth the flesh of any animal dying, otherwise than by slaughter, or slaughtered when diseased, or a baker, brewer, or distiller,1 who selleth unwholesome bread or drink shall, on conviction2 the first time, be amerced; the second time he shall suffer judgment of the pillory, and the third time he shall be imprisoned and make fine; and every time after he shall be adjudged to hard labour six month in the public works.3

Report description begins Report of the Committee of Revisors Appointed by the General Assembly of Virginia in MDCCLXXVI, Richmond, 1784 description ends , p. 52. Text of Act as adopted is in Hening, description begins William W. Hening, The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia description ends xii, 336.

Bill was presented by Madison 31 Oct. 1785 and on 14 Dec. postponed to the next session (JHD description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia (cited by session and date of publication) description ends , Oct. 1785, 1828 edn., p. 12–15, 92). It was brought up again at the Oct. 1786 session, was amended by the committee of the whole, to some of which amendments the House disagreed, and was passed by the House on 18 Nov. The Senate passed the Bill 27 Nov. with amendments, to which the House agreed on the same day (JHD description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia (cited by session and date of publication) description ends , Oct. 1786, 1828 edn., p. 16–17, 44, 46, 48, 64, 127). Except as noted below, text of Act as adopted agrees with Bill as proposed; Act was suspended until 1 July 1787 (Hening, description begins William W. Hening, The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia description ends xii, 410–11).

1. The Act adds: “or other person.”

2. The Act adds: “by the verdict of a jury.”

3. It is curious that this final provision should have been allowed to stand in the Bill, in view of the fact that both Bill No. 64 and Bill No. 68, which provided penalties requiring convicted persons to labor in the public works, were rejected.

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Source Project: Jefferson Papers
Title: 76. A Bill Prescribing the Punishment of Those Who Sell Unwholesome Meat or Drink, 18 June 1779
Author: Committee of the Virginia Assembly
Date: 18 June 1779

Reference

Cite as: “76. A Bill Prescribing the Punishment of Those Who Sell Unwholesome Meat or Drink, 18 June 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-02-02-0132-0004-0076. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 2, 1777 – 18 June 1779, ed. Julian P. Boyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950, pp. 521–522.]