Fred O Smith, Jr, ‘On Time, (In)equality, and Death’, 120 Michigan Law Review 195 (2021). Fred O Smith, Jr’s complex and ambitious article ‘On Time, (In)Equality, and Death’ wakes us up to what we owe the dead, especially the dead who have suffered mass, systemic horrors such as slavery. The article dexterously ties a relatively niche doctrinal area – legal rights and duties regarding dead bodies – to the monumental and pressing question of what we who live owe to the dead and their descendants. His core contention is that the living act as trustees for the dead, not just as individual embodiments of their lineal relations. Moreover, we violate our duty as trustees when we fail to hold and curate society’s collective memory to also honor evolving norms of equality and anti-subordination … (more)
[Martha Ertman, JOTWELL, 22 April]
First posted 2022-04-22 18:15:42
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