Let's Talk Law: The Troubles of Zoomer Crumbley

Designed for teaching American legal concepts by using a game (role-playing) format, the text surrounds the life of Zoomer Crumbley, a (fictional) young man with an uncanny knack for getting into legal trouble. Intended for high school and undergraduate students, the book is not designed to be read cover-to-cover (How difficult! How boring!) but is organized to facilitate game play, not attempting to teach what the law actually is in any state, but using the law of the fictional 51st state, the "State of Flux," to illustrate the basic concepts and terminology of how American law works. The goal is not to teach what the law "is," as if it were static, but to make real, for students, how the question "Is it legal?" gets answered in the real world of law -- by "we the people," the litigants, lawyers, witnesses, judges, and jurors who resolve an ever-changing parade of legal problems and disputes. The book (and the game it supports) are based on scenarios (called "Troubles") in which students play the roles of the hapless Zoomer Crumbley, his friend Eddie Worthless, and various lawyers, judges, jurors or witnesses -- which vary from "Trouble" to "Trouble." Three sample Trouble Scenarios (and instructions for each role they involve) are included, but the idea is to allow a teacher and students to create their own hypothetical scenarios, based on subjects they might be curious about. Classes then use the book as a reference tool to enable the students to simulate the real world of law by determining, jointly, what the resolution of that particular Trouble might be in the hypothetical State of Flux. While the book gives passing attention to subjects like tax law, anti-trust law, and securities law, the emphasis is on traffic infractions, jobs, bullying, landlord-tenant relations, internet and privacy concerns, and similar topics of greater interest to most young people. 275 pages. Read more