73. A Bill against Conspirators, 18 June 1779

73. A Bill against Conspirators

Be it declared and enacted by the General Assembly, that conspirators be they that do confederate or bind themselves by oath, covenant, or other alliance that every of them shall aid and bear the other falsely and maliciously to move or cause to be moved any indictment1 or information against another on the part of the commonwealth, and those who are convicted thereof at the suit of the commonwealth, shall be punished by imprisonment and amercement at the discretion of a jury.

Report description begins Report of the Committee of Revisors Appointed by the General Assembly of Virginia in MDCCLXXVI, Richmond, 1784 description ends , p. 51. 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, 334.

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). At the Oct. 1786 session it was brought up again, passed by the House on 18 Nov., and approved by the Senate on 27 Nov. (same, Oct. 1786, p. 16–17, 44, 46, 48, 64, 127). The text of the Act as adopted is identical with the Bill as proposed, with the exception noted below; 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. Act reads incorrectly: “enticement.”

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Source Project: Jefferson Papers
Title: 73. A Bill against Conspirators, 18 June 1779
Author: Committee of the Virginia Assembly
Date: 18 June 1779

Reference

Cite as: “73. A Bill against Conspirators, 18 June 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-02-02-0132-0004-0073. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 2, 1777 – 18 June 1779, ed. Julian P. Boyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950, p. 520.]