Believe Absurdities, Commit Atrocities

10/21/24 • 48 min

1 Listener

OA1079 - An OA Spooktacular! But also a normal episode.

We continue our ongoing series on fascism and the law with a fresh perspective on a familiar American legal horror story. Matt explains the terrifying legal context surrounding the 1692 Court of Oyer and Terminar which sentenced dozens of innocent Massachusetts colonists to hang for the extremely real felony of practicing witchcraft--and an unexpected defense strategy which could have spared them. What can the most terrifying run of wrongful executions in US history teach us about the dangers of governance by rumor, paranoia, and conspiracy theories 332 years later?

SOURCES:

In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, Mary Beth Norton (2003)
“Salem Witchcraft Trials Research Guide,” Congregational Library (2024)(links to primary sources)
18 USC 611 (voting by aliens)
Order granting preliminary injunction against Oklahoma’s anti-Sharia law amendment in Awad v. Ziriax et al, W.Dist. of OK (2010)(later upheld by 10th Circuit

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA1079 - An OA Spooktacular! But also a normal episode.

SOURCES:

In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, Mary Beth Norton (2003)
“Salem Witchcraft Trials Research Guide,” Congregational Library (2024)(links to primary sources)
18 USC 611 (voting by aliens)
Order granting preliminary injunction against Oklahoma’s anti-Sharia law amendment in Awad v. Ziriax et al, W.Dist. of OK (2010)(later upheld by 10th Circuit

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

Previous Episode

Clarence Thomas Loves Killing Potentially Innocent Men

OA1078 - The Supreme Court is back from their vacation and is set to ruin a bunch of lives again! They start off with Glossip v. Oklahoma, another opportunity for the Republican ghouls on the Court to execute a potentially innocent man.

But not to worry, Matt's Footnote Fetish(tm) will bring us wayyyy back into happy territory, as a favorite character from OA past is in the news in the best way!

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

Next Episode

The Case of the Uneasy Easement - T3BE45

It's OA Bar Prep with Heather! First we get the answer to last week's pizza predicament, and then we get question 45 - the case of the uneasy easement!

Right now, the best place to play (if you aren't a patron...) is at reddit.com/r/openargs!

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!