MD Supreme Court Clashes Over Appellate Court Comparing Criminal Defendant to Mythological Monster
“Among other things, the Appellate Court in its opinion compared Belton—an African American man—to Grendel, the mythical monster in the Old English epic, Beowulf,” stated Justice Jonathan Biran, in his written opinion for the court. “Belton asserts that this analogy evokes racist tropes of African Americans as subhuman. He raises similar objections concerning several other passages in the Appellate Court’s dicta.”