You should read all of @chrisgeidner.bsky.social’s coverage of what happened last night. Here’s the short version: the 6 conservatives on the Court overturned an appellate court’s stay of execution, without explanation, solely so that Tennessee could execute a woman *right away.* Then,
![Law and the Supernatural
Mini-Seminar
Prof. Hannah Walser
Fall 2026
Course Description
What happens when purported spiritual, religious, or otherwise otherworldly experiences run up against standards of legal proof and liability? In this mini-seminar, we will trace glimmers of the supernatural through legal history to see what they can teach us about law's own quasi-magic powers. Topics include religious and spiritual fraud; the insanity defense and "religious delusion"; authorship and copyright from beyond the grave; the enforceability of contracts with the devil; and the evidentiary challenges of proving the ineffable. In addition to judicial opinions and other case documents, we will discuss historical and journalistic accounts, scholarly articles, and fictional narratives.
Schedule
September 17: Is Law Magic?
- Jessie Allen, Magical Realisms, in LAW AND MAGIC: A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS 195 (Christine A. Corcos ed., 2010)
October 1: Spiritual Fraud and Sincere Belief
- United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78(1944)
- CHARLES MCCRARY, SINCERELY HELD: AMERICAN SECULARISM AND ITS BELIEVERS
(2022) [excerpts: 1-5, 12-20]
- Optional: MCCRARY, 88-101
October 8: "Deific Decrees" and the Insanity Defense
- JON KRAKAUER, UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN: A STORY OF VIOLENT FAITH (2003)
[excerpts: xi-xxili, 87-93, 136-43, 157-72, 291-321]
- L. Joe Dunman, Testing Religious Insanity, 70 Wayne L. Rev. 415(2025) [excerpts: 416-
23, 436-4491
- Optional: Read the whole article](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pwlygq4vcnwe4wzqxgczcv5u/bafkreiedh4mytpfam2cudlrjudmvxopaw3zvqeubmykvjucth4xooura3a)
![October 29: Contracting with the Devil
- HANS PETER BROEDEL, THE MALLEUS MALEFICARUM AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF WITCHCRAFT: THEOLOGY AND POPULAR BELIEF (2003) [excerpt: 20-24]
- Soili-Maria Olli, The Devil's Pact: A Male Strategy, in BEYOND THE WITCH TRIALS:
WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC IN ENLIGHTENMENT EUROPE 100 (Owen Davies and Willem De Blecourt, eds., 2004)
- Stephen Vincent Benét, The Devil and Daniel Webster, THE SATURDAY EVENING POST,
Oct. 24 1936.
- Optional: THE SIMPSONS: Treehouse of Horror IV [excerpt: "The Devil and Homer
Simpson"]
November 5: Witches in Evidence
- Trace M. Maddox, The Lawyer, the Witch, and the Witness: Proving Witchcraft in the English Courts, 35 YALEJ.L. & HUMAN. 666(2024) [excerpts: 666-69, 675-80, 698-709]
- Optional: Read the whole article
- INCREASE MATHER, A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE TRYALS OF THE NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES (John Russell Smith, 1862) (1693) [excerpt: 269-84]
November 12: The Afterlife of the Author
- Christine A. Corcos, "Ghostwriters": Spiritualists, Copyright Infringement, and Rights of Publicity, in LAW AND MAGIC 79
- Optional: Emily Grant Hutchings, The Coming of "Jap Herron", in JAP HERRON: A NOVEL WRITTEN AT THE OUIJA BOARD (1917)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pwlygq4vcnwe4wzqxgczcv5u/bafkreihn6pbtzwk3qvoriuetdezv5t2p2szhwpmcjdkdipksge66vkky4e)
