Lawlemmas; in Search of Principled Choices in Law, Justice, and Life. Acker, James R. 2016. Book Review and Concept Paper

Abstract

Like the literary device of Shakespeare’s play within a play, the book by James R. Acker, Lawlemmas; In Search of Principled Choices in Law, Justice, 2016, uses the very same literary device to show a class lecture and debate within a class lecture and debate. The medium allows readers and students to see how other students debate and think about practical legal and ethical controversies like race, insanity, juries, free speech, college privacy rights, euthanasia, confessions, and the death penalty. In the play within a play device, the audience watches an audience watch a play and sees how they respond. This forces them to think about themselves as participants as well as observers. It increases the power of the narrative because the reader observes others engaged in the same multi-faceted debates, that they themselves are pondering. The students have a vicarious choice between varying viewpoints not quite fixed in law and subject to intense debate, before analyzing their own position. While the approach of the book is pedagogical, to stimulate debate while reading others’ opinions, any reader of this volume and its accompanying references will benefit from the legal and ethical debates on ethical legal dilemmas. The book will refresh the scholars’ and practitioners’ grasp of how new and how unresolved these issues continue to be.