Saturday 21 May 2016

court of last resort or vade retro satana

In 1971, Weird Universe informs, plaintiff Gerald Mayo registered a class-action law suit on behalf of all of those down on their luck against the the Devil himself (plus his minions). The petition was elevated to a US federal court in Pennsylvania.
The docket was dismissed however, finding that such matters were outside of the court’s jurisdiction, and that Satan tended to vex individuals under unique—often ironic—circumstances that no summary judgement could hope to redress. I could find no other actual precedence for the Dark Prince being called before a magistrate in a legal context—even tried in absentia, however I do wonder how many times defendants have invoked the plea “the Devil made made do it.” That might be an interesting research project.