{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The Man Who Sued Satan","description":"Can you sue the Devil in federal court? In 1971, one prisoner decided to find out. Filing a civil rights lawsuit against &quot;Satan and His Staff,&quot; 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\u2014but 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 failed for one simple reason: the U.S. Marshal had no way to serve the defendant. In this episode of History Shorts, we explore one of the strangest cases ever to appear in an American courtroom\u2014and the remarkably straight-faced judicial opinion that made legal history. &amp;nbsp; SUPPORT THE SHOW:&amp;nbsp;https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/c\/HistoryShortsPodcast ADVERTISE:&amp;nbsp;https:\/\/www.historyshortspodcast.com\/advertise&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; LEARN MORE:&amp;nbsp;https:\/\/www.historyshortspodcast.com\/ SPONSORED BY:&amp;nbsp;https:\/\/www.podcastrepublic.net\/get-it-now&amp;nbsp; ","author_name":"History Shorts","author_url":"https:\/\/www.historyshortspodcast.com","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/42294595\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/204712210"}