On November 7, 1989, the Vermont Supreme Court handed down a fence decision.

A 1790 law placed responsibility for fencing costs on both neighbors. A family in Newport who grazed cattle, wanted their neighbors to help pay to repair an old fence.

The neighbors refused, arguing that keeping the cattle contained was the responsibility of the family who owned the cattle.

Lower courts upheld the old law, quoting Robert Frost’s “good fences make good neighbors,” but the Vermont Supreme Court declared the old law unconstitutional, placing the responsibility squarely on the family who owned the cattle.

Image is a Vermont Book Of Days photo