The Cult Boat Case (Whittaker v. Sandford)
After speaking with God and getting a little "higher" on life, a somewhat deranged and certainly narcissistic preacher from Maine named Frank Sandford decided to establish an outpost of his following, known as The Kingdom, in modern-day Israel. Things went more or less to plan—he established a chain of command between his followers and God by putting himself at the head (not culty), established "tiers" of followers (definitely not culty), and got a manslaughter conviction overturned (surely not culty in any way)—until Florence Whittaker wanted to go home. Drinks: Omission Lager and Tanqueray Gin and tonic. Disclaimer: Neither of us is a lawyer. We don't know that much about the law and are trying our best. It's possible that we get stuff wrong on this show, and nothing heard in the podcast should be taken as a perfectly accurate description of standing case law. Nothing in this show constitutes legal advice, and we're not telling you that it's OK or not OK to do anything that might break the law. Please drink responsibly.