
The Man Who Sued Satan
Can you sue the Devil in federal court? In 1971, one prisoner decided to find out. Filing a civil rights lawsuit against "Satan and His Staff," the plaintiff claimed the Prince of Darkness had deprived him of his constitutional rights by placing obstacles in his life and causing him misery. The case sounds like a joke—but the federal judge treated it with surprising seriousness. Rather than dismissing it outright, he examined questions of jurisdiction, cited legal precedent, and even considered whether the case could qualify as a class action on behalf of all humanity. The lawsuit ultimately…
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