Pace Law Review Volume 39 Issue 2 Article 9 September 2019 The Devil in Recent American Law L. Joe Dunman Morehead State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/plr Part of the Criminal Law Commons, and the Criminal Procedure Commons Recommended Citation L. Joe Dunman, The Devil in Recent American Law, 39 Pace L. Rev. 929 (2019) Available at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pace Law Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ARTICLE 9_DUNMAN_FINAL.DOCX (DO NOT DELETE) 8/23/2019 6:46 PM The Devil in Recent American Law L. Joe Dunman* Abstract Despite its secular aspirations, the American legal system is permeated by Christian and other religious ideas. One of the religious ideas that frequently appears in recent American law is the devil—the unholy antithesis of all that is good in the world. Called by many names, such as Satan, Lucifer, or the Antichrist, the devil is no stranger to the United States court system. The devil arises from the hot depths primarily in five contexts: (1) as a source of injury to reputation in defamation cases; (2) as a prejudicial invocation made during criminal trials to secure conviction, harshen sentences, or discredit witnesses; (3) as a symptom of mental illness or delusion severe enough to qualify criminal defendants for insanity pleas and incapacitate decedents in probate; (4) as a source of religious conflict between inmates and their wardens; and, sometimes (5) as a party to litigation.