Suing Satan and Selling Ghosts: When the Law Meets the Supernatural

In this spine-tinged installment of Closing Arguments, we step into the courtroom where logic meets the unexplainable.

First up: Gerald Mayo vs. Satan and His Staff — the bizarre 1971 case where one man literally tried to sue the Devil. What drove him to file the lawsuit, and what did the courts have to say about it? More importantly, what does this strange filing reveal about the boundaries of law and belief?

Then, we travel to Nyack, New York, home of the only legally haunted house in America. In Stambovsky vs. Ackley, a homebuyer discovered his dream home came with… ghosts. The ruling from this case reshaped how property law deals with psychological stigma — and gave new meaning to the phrase “buyer beware.”

From Hell to haunted real estate, this episode of Closing Arguments explores how the justice system handles the strange, the supernatural, and the downright unbelievable.

Chapters:

0:00 - Introduction

2:00 - Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction

3:35 - Can you sue the devil?

8:25 - How deep are Satan's pockets?

14:35 - Why the case was dismissed

21:30 - The legally haunted house in America

32:06 - Is the house still for sale?

38:05 - Closing remarks