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Reason
Reason
Politics
Orin S. Kerr

Monty Python, The Holy Grail, and the Idea of Due Process

The idea of due process can be a difficult legal concept for a lot of non-lawyers.  But you can get the basic idea from Monty Python's classic movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  You just need to watch a single scene, the "she's a witch!" scene, which is here:

You probably remember the scene, at least if you're of a certain age.  To recap: The mob has found a witch, and they're very excited to burn her.  They come to Bedevere and ask for his permission to do it.  Bedevere pauses and asks,  "How do you know she's a witch?"   The crowd can't come up with a good reason.  Bedevere then insists that there are ways of telling if she's a witch, and he leads the mob to a scientific test of that proposition.

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