Legal News

Law Blog Law School Elective of the Day: Jesus

By Peter Lattman

We’ve been gingerly circling around the Heath Ledger tragedy trying to figure out the best legal angle. The Hollywood Reporter, Esq. blog focused on the legal implications for the “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” a film starring Ledger that was halfway through production. This morning, the New York Post reported that the masseuse who discovered Ledger’s body doesn’t have a license to practice massage therapy, which could possibly put her in jail. But our best way in to this tragic loss was an excerpt from Wednesday’s NYT story interviewing gawkers standing outside Ledger’s Soho apartment.

Others in the crowd said their first reaction to word of his death was disbelief. Nicole Vaughan, 24, a law student at NYU, was in a seminar about Jesus when someone sent her a message about Ledger. She checked the Web, then walked to the apartment “because of the way our generation is; we sort of feel we’re a part of each other’s lives.”

And now, young Nicole, we feel like a part of your life. Did you say a seminar about Jesus at NYU Law? Indeed, Professor J.H.H. Weiler, whose friends call him we’re not sure, teaches “The Passion of the Christ: The Trial of Jesus.” Here’s the course description:

The Seminar will examine the historical context, the factual matrix and the legal issues concerning the trial(s) of Jesus by the Jewish and Roman authorities. Readings will include some of the principal primary sources and a selection from the vast seondary literature. For serious learners. Tons to read and plenty of hard work. Do not enroll just for curiosity.

Law Blog Contest of the Day: We’ve told you about Georgetown’s “The Law of 24” and now a Jesus seminar. O Beloved Law Blog readers, what’s the quirkiest law-school elective out there?

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 25, 2008 (boomark / email).