Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor Gets Into... Video Gaming?

from the didn't-see-that-coming dept

Thu, Jun 5th 2008 2:23am — Mike Masnick

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor made a statement at a conference that I think we can all agree with:

"If someone told me when I retired from court that I'd be talking at a conference about digital gaming, I'd think they'd had one drink too many."

However, not only did she talk at a conference about digital gaming, she's working on a project to create a video game about the court system, to try to make students more informed about the judicial system and some of the difficult decisions it makes. There have been many similar "civic education" video games out there, like the UN video game to teach kids about world hunger and, my personal favorite, a video game to teach kids how to gerrymander voting districts to get political support. It's not clear how successful any of these sorts of games really are, but it's nice to see a former Supreme Court Justice taking an interest in these sorts of things. Though, some might point out that this could be seen as something of a gimmick, and students might just be better served by adding a decent civics curriculum back into school (it's apparently gone thanks to No Child Left Behind).

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: civics, justice system, sandra day o'connor, video games

22 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

www.custompcmax.com, 5 Jun 2008 @ 3:14am

It sound pretty damn boring to me. But, at least she isn't rallying against video games.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Brad Eleven, 5 Jun 2008 @ 4:12am

Ask not for whom the game is boring...
... it is boring to thee.

A boring game is still more engaging than an boring lecture. And it might not necessarily be boring: What if the summary pieces were the formal ceremonies where the cases were being argued, and the meat of the game was the behind closed doors action? You know, the sausage-making part.

I like the reference to the game about how to gerrymander districts. Maybe Rockstar will do a themed game: Grand Theft Government.

I think that's why the authorities are so down on GTA and similar games: The games point out where the system isn't working in ways that even reprobates can understand.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Jun 2008 @ 4:21am

When will they realize?
No self-respecting gamer will play their "games". Ever. Unless paid lots of money.
I like the random jab at No Child Left Behind at the end...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 5 Jun 2008 @ 4:59am
  
  Re: When will they realize?
  Not really random considering it IS why curriculums have gotten screwed up.
  
  No Child Left Behind is actually Your Child Held Back.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- DigitalAngel, 5 Jun 2008 @ 6:15am
  
  Re: When will they realize?
  What if it is a game in the classroom, and you could play it or listen to a lecture?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- sandoz76, 10 Jun 2008 @ 11:18am
  
  Re: When will they realize?
  Why do you assume every game is trying to court a self-declared gamer?
  
  Hi, welcome to 2008 and where pimply, antisocial, virgins like you are not the only people interested in video games, noob.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
John thomas, 5 Jun 2008 @ 5:12am

Kangaroos
LOL, I hope she doesnt forget to add the Kangaroos! Kangaroo court system has to have plenty of Kangaroos in it LMAO

JT
http://www.FireMe.to/udi
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Greg, 5 Jun 2008 @ 5:17am

Order in the court!
I just want to bang the gavel!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
wasnt me, 5 Jun 2008 @ 5:28am

i don't see what harm can come out of this, so im a for it.

then again im not much of a gamer.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Killer_Tofu (profile), 5 Jun 2008 @ 5:48am

How representative will it be?
Are they going to have tons of frivilous lawsuits filed by stupid people who will not accept responsibility for their own actions?
Are they going to have lots of lawsuits filed by people suing somebody just because the people they sue *cough google cough* have lots of money even though the actual person responsible is in no way afiliated with them?
How about lots of dumb patents that should never have been filed being used to sue people who actually did something for the market?

If the game is going to be realistic they have to include all that stuff. Or how about lawsuits that are trying to stretch trademark and copyright far far beyond what they really cover?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chronno S. Trigger, 5 Jun 2008 @ 5:58am
  
  Re: How representative will it be?
  Your idea sounds good. I think if it was done right it would be a good game and be educational about how bad our legal system has gotten. Maybe it will get people interested in reality and help change things. Maybe a Sim Court kind of thing where you make the calls and get to see the long term outcomes.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Jun 2008 @ 6:17am

To me it just seems like it is a game that shows the basic workings of the court and would be used in the classroom not for fun at home.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Red_E_Made, 5 Jun 2008 @ 7:43am

ponder this....
I someone was to WANT to bacome an attorney or maybe even perhaps copy such a game and pirate it out... Would it then become not so boring, but a possibly engaging tutorial in what's to come?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Jun 2008 @ 8:02am

Why do you need to teach civics when you don't have a constitution or checks and balances.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- CVPunk, 5 Jun 2008 @ 9:51am
  
  Re:
  They had to remove civics courses so they wouldn't see how the Neo-Cons are destroying the constitution and the system of checks and balances.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
chris (profile), 5 Jun 2008 @ 8:05am

i've played it since beta
i'm already 60th level, mostly from farming trolls in texas, where the drop rate is 0.83 per. our guild is the best on the pluribus server.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Killer_Tofu (profile), 5 Jun 2008 @ 8:12am

Lol
#14 Chris
Nice. I didn't realize the game was going to be an MMO.
So by farming, are you killing them off? I think they have a pretty fast respawn rate until the drops they get from the court system get nerfed back to reality.

I meant to include the confucious quote in my first post.
"Woman who sit in judges lap get honorable discharge"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Trevlac, 5 Jun 2008 @ 9:09am

Anyone ever played the Ace Attorney games? They're pretty damn bomb, so if this Justice plays them and takes a leaf out of their book then we'll see some decent gameplay coupled with the accuracy they're going for in a court game.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ultra, 5 Jun 2008 @ 11:54am

There's already been a very successful series of games based on the legal system (linky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Wright:_Ace_Attorney). The actual legal rules involved in the game are occasionally suspect as far as American law goes, but that might be just because they're based on the Japanese legal system, which presumably has some differences I don't know about. It'd be great to see a similar game based directly on our legal system, provided that it has interesting stories, characters, and art.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Jun 2008 @ 12:04pm

Order! Order in the court!
The court is awaiting testimony from resident strawman, MLS.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Allan Feldt, 6 Jun 2008 @ 6:24am

Sandra Day O'Connor's video game
I strongly support and congratulate Mrs. O'Connor's effort to bring some educational innovation and life into civics courses. During 35 years of University teaching I have found that for some topics a good game is amazingly effective at inspiring students to study harder in order to win the game by better understanding the process. Not only do they often learn more but they usually retain what they learned better since it came from experience, not just just lectures and text.

Allan Feldt, Prof. Emeritus, Univ. of Michigan
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
VonKarma, 6 Jun 2008 @ 11:17am

Court game
"Objection!"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]