Hearings

The Online Journal of Contour biennale

November 4 2016

Hobby Lobby vs. The Allegory of Justice

By inhabitants

This episode, set within the context of inhabitants’s collaboration with Contour Biennale 8, weighs the fiction of allegorical images against the concept of the legal fictitious person. In particular, it puts in perspective the abstract body of Justice in relation to the status attributed to corporations for juridical purpose under the United States code of law. Set to the tone of feminist post-punk bands and composers, we draw on a recent US Supreme Court legal case that granted religious rights to a corporation called Hobby Lobby, which allowed it to deny its federal obligation to provide contraceptive healthcare to its female employees. The case sets jurisprudent record within the United States Common Law, which means that common law judges not only apply the law but also make the law through exemplary cases that may then be used in future cases. As such, the consequences of the Hobby Lobby ruling, which opens the way for corporations to practice a faith, may come to affect women’s autonomy and rights to their bodies in the future.

This episode was produced by inhabitants with the kind support of Contour Biennale 8. For more information visit inhabitants website: www.inhabitants-tv.org

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Hobby Lobby vs. The Allegory of Justice