I Hate Lawyers
Some of them, anyway. Volokh links to this as “Life Imitates The Onion.” I might call it “Life Imitates Toni Morrison” but whatever it is, it’s dumb:
A Portland lawyer says suffering by African Americans at the hands of slave owners is to blame in the death of a 2-year-old Beaverton boy.
Randall Vogt is offering the untested theory, called post traumatic slave syndrome, in his defense of Isaac Cortez Bynum, who is charged with murder by abuse in the June 30 death of his son, Ryshawn Lamar Bynum. Vogt says he will argue — “in a general way” — that masters beat slaves, so Bynum was justified in beating his son.
According to the article, the judge will only accept evidence of such a defense if the “syndrome” can be shown to be “an accepted mental disorder with a valid scientific basis.” Which it isn’t, so there’s no chance of it getting in. Still, that someone even dreamed it up is nauseating. Hilariously nauseating.
