Deodands put a price on objects that caused death
summary
The medieval law of deodands, which required the owner of an object that caused death to forfeit its value, served as an early form of accountability for nonhuman entities. While it provided a rudimentary way to provide compensation to victims' families, its application was inconsistent and often arbitrary. The law became unsustainable during the Industrial Revolution because the high cost of locomotives made the penalty too expensive for railway companies. Consequently, the law was abolished in 1846, which protected corporate interests but left many victims' families without any legal recourse.
key points
- Deodands were based on the belief that objects causing death were accursed and belonged to God, meaning their value was typically given to the king or the victims' families.
- The application of the law was highly variable, as juries had significant discretion to determine which parts of the object were deodand and what its value was.
- The abolition of the law in 1846 primarily benefited railway companies by removing the financial risk of losing expensive locomotives, effectively ending a simple path to compensation for bereaved families.
who should read it
People interested in legal history, the Industrial Revolution, and how laws evolve to protect corporate interests over individual victims.
discussion positive
consensus
Commenters generally agree that the law of deodands was based on ancient superstitions regarding inanimate objects causing death, which eventually evolved into more pragmatic legal structures. There is a shared view that the law's decline was driven by the interests of wealthy railway companies rather than a genuine shift in social beliefs. Some participants connect these archaic laws to modern concepts like civil asset forfeiture and the failures of the current carceral system.
top insight
The transition from deodands to admiralty law shows how a superstitious legal mechanism was repurposed into a practical tool for obtaining legal redress against foreign ship owners. By treating the ship itself as the wrongdoer, victims could secure judgments in the port of arrival without traveling to the owner's domicile. This demonstrates a rare instance where a 'dysfunctional' law provided a blueprint for a necessary modern legal innovation.
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