Sober As A Judge / Case library
Take Me Out to the Courthouse · Extra Innings · Seventh-Inning Stretch · Doubleheader · Heart of Dixie · Curtain Call
Every case in Sober As A Judge is a real U.S. court case. Here are the facts as the court had them, the issue, and the citation. The verdict stays in the game: read the brief, call it with your friends, and drink if you get it wrong.
885 real cases across 82 dockets. The main dockets come first, then the themed series.
The free starter cases.
Open the House Deck docket: A Quarter-Mile Away, Bootleg Records, Charged Twice Over and more.
5 real court decisions to warm up the bench. Short Session.
Open the Opening Statements docket: No Law Against It, The Altered Cheque, The Empty Bed and more.
10 real court decisions — the hardest calls in the building. Regular Session.
Open the High Crimes docket: A Year and a Day, Baking Powder, Cash Under the Floorboard and more.
10 real court decisions on theft, fraud, and the line between borrowing and stealing. Regular Session.
Open the Sticky Fingers docket: Filled Up and Drove Off, Five Hundred Thousand Lines, Five Hundred for a Name and more.
10 real court decisions for the late sitting. Regular Session.
Open the Night Session docket: Filed-Off Serial Numbers, Follow the Retention Policy, Letters That Threatened Death and more.
5 real decisions on entrapment — where's the line between catching a criminal and creating one? Short Session.
Open the Set Up docket: The Aide And The Caller, The Government's Own Lab, The Investor's Hotel Plan and more.
10 real decisions on duress and necessity — the choice-of-evils defense. Regular Session.
Open the No Choice docket: Blocking The Bridge Ramp, Churches And The Border, Hammers On Missile Parts and more.
10 real decisions on causation in homicide — did the defendant legally cause the death? Regular Session.
Open the Chain Reaction docket: Back Into the Dark Road, Planes Over the Wildfire, The Breathing Tubes and more.
15 real decisions on confessions, coercion, and Miranda — the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. Extended Session.
Open the You Have the Right docket: Forty Hours Without Food, Four A.M. in the Bedroom, Maybe I Should Talk and more.
5 real trials of governors, senators, and congressmen accused of selling their offices. Short Session.
Open the The People's Trust docket: Licences for Riverboat Casinos, Money to Hide an Affair, Payments for Official Help and more.
10 real trials of bombers and terrorism defendants — and the rare cases the government lost. Regular Session.
Open the Blowback docket: Letters Through the Prison Wall, The Blind Cleric, The Bomber's Partner and more.
10 real prosecutions of companies and executives for deaths, spills, and disasters. Regular Session.
Open the The Cost of Doing Business docket: The Chemical Leak Into the River, The Coal Mine Explosion, The Dust in the Logs and more.
15 real political, protest, and free-speech prosecutions — from the Red Scare to the Vietnam War. Extended Session.
Open the Contempt of Government docket: Advocacy or Ideas, Better Make America Safe First, Blood on the Draft Files and more.
25 of the most sensational trials in American history, from Aaron Burr to Derek Chauvin. Long Session.
Open the Trial of the Century docket: Cameras in the Courtroom, Gunfire at the Compound, Nine Minutes on the Pavement and more.
5 real trials of the famous brought down not by their crimes but by the IRS. Short Session.
Open the The Taxman docket: Mansion Bills Charged to the Firm, One Count and No Trial, The Actor Who Stopped Filing and more.
10 real trials for perjury, obstruction, and lying to investigators — the cover-up that outlived the crime. Regular Session.
Open the Cover-Up docket: The Fixer's Payments, The Fundraiser Warning, The Leak Investigation Aide and more.
10 real trials from Washington's greatest scandals — Watergate, Teapot Dome, Abscam, Iran-Contra. Regular Session.
Open the All the President's Men docket: A Break-In and a Cover-Up, A Hidden Stake in a Mine, Break-In at a Doctor's Office and more.
15 real trials of the drug lords and cartel bosses the U.S. finally caught. Extended Session.
Open the Kingpins docket: Cartel Brothers, Part One, Cartel Brothers, Part Two, Orders From a Prison Cell and more.
25 real trials of America's great swindlers, Ponzi kings, and con artists. Long Session.
Open the The Con docket: Boardroom Calls To A Trader, Buried in the Mail Sacks, Cheques And Campaign Cash and more.
5 real trials of pirates and sea-robbers hauled before American courts. Short Session.
Open the The Jolly Roger docket: Gunfire at the Wrong Ship, Mutiny, Then Plunder, Robbery of a Foreign Ship and more.
10 real trials from the greatest bank jobs, armored-car scores, and jewel heists in U.S. history. Regular Session.
Open the The Heist docket: Paint Chips In The Van, The Blonde Wig in the Van, The Cargo Terminal Inside Man and more.
10 real trials of point-shavers, game-fixers, and dopers who rigged the game. Regular Session.
Open the The Fix docket: Contracts in the Safe, Keeping Below the Spread, Paying the College Players and more.
15 real military trials, from Andersonville and Billy Mitchell to Fort Hood. Extended Session.
Open the Court-Martial docket: Before It Was a Crime, Scripture on the Desk, The Army Doctor Who Opened Fire and more.
25 real obscenity and censorship trials, from Ulysses to 2 Live Crew. Long Session.
Open the Banned docket: Fit Only for Children, The Adult Bookstore Clerks, The Art-House Film and more.
5 real antebellum trials of abolitionists who defied the Fugitive Slave Act, from Reuben Crandall to Ableman v. Booth. Short Session.
Open the The Underground docket: A Fugitive Under His Roof, Pamphlets in the Doctor's Rooms, Rescuing a Fugitive From the Marshal and more.
Real trials of America's boldest counterfeiters, forgers, and art fakers, from Jim the Penman to the Knoedler scandal. Regular Session.
Open the Forgeries & Fakes docket: Paintings Made in Hours, Seventy Thousand Signed Prints, The Endorsed Treasury Draft and more.
15 real trials of the Old West's outlaws and gunfighters, from the O.K. Corral to the Hanging Judge's court. Extended Session.
Open the Frontier Justice docket: Christmas at the Camp, The Blank Stare, The Earlier Acquittal and more.
25 real American treason trials, from the Whiskey Rebellion to Tokyo Rose. Long Session.
Open the Treason docket: A Father Shelters His Son, A Plan Without an Army, A Speech Against the War and more.
5 real trials from America's bloody labor wars — the Molly Maguires, Big Bill Haywood, and the bombings that shook the union movement. Short Session.
Open the Labor Wars docket: Shots at the Strike Headquarters, Strike at the Silver Mines, The Dockworkers' Board Member and more.
10 real American trials that turned on an insanity or diminished-capacity plea, from Daniel Sickles to the Twinkie defense. Regular Session.
Open the Insanity on Trial docket: Bodies in the Trunks, Fit to Defend Himself?, The Burning Bridges and more.
10 real trials of the Volstead era's bootleggers, rum-runners, and beer barons — from the King of Puget Sound to the Man in the Green Hat. Regular Session.
Open the Prohibition docket: The Counterfeit Strip Stamps, The Jug In The Field, The Redated Warrant and more.
15 real insider-trading and securities-fraud trials, from the printer who beat the rap to the Galleon wiretaps. Extended Session.
Open the Wall Street docket: A Tip Passed Between In-Laws, Buying at Forty-Five, One Call From a Buyer and more.
25 real trials of anarchists, communists, and the Hollywood blacklist — sedition, criminal syndicalism, and contempt of Congress. Long Session.
Open the The Red Scare docket: A State Sedition Law, Five Questions Refused, Five Thousand Pamphlets and more.
5 real American kidnapping-for-ransom trials -- from Machine Gun Kelly to the heiress buried alive in a box. Short Session.
Open the Ransom docket: A Million In Twenties, A Singer's Son Taken, Buried Box Ransom and more.
10 real trials of arsonists and the operators behind America's deadliest fires -- nightclubs, a warehouse, and a padlocked plant. Regular Session.
Open the Trial by Fire docket: Diversion at the Construction Site, Fire for the Payout, Matches in His Pocket and more.
10 real civil-rights-era trials -- Klan murders, Mississippi Burning, and the Southern juries that acquitted. Regular Session.
Open the Civil Rights on Trial docket: Forty-One Years Later, Placards at the State House, The Blackjack at the Courthouse and more.
15 real trials of doctors and nurses gone wrong -- pill mills, propofol, and the hospital angels of death. Extended Session.
Open the Bad Medicine docket: Bleach at the Dialysis Clinic, Chemotherapy for Profit, Insulin on the Night Shift and more.
Real trials of cults, militias, and armed standoffs -- Ruby Ridge, Waco, the Rajneeshees, and the Order. Long Session.
Open the True Believers docket: Bombs Before the Bank Jobs, Group Leaders and a Capitol Riot, Gunfire at the Jungle Airstrip and more.
5 real American skyjacking trials -- ransom jumpers, a Cuba-bound gunman, and a deadly bomb. Short Session.
Open the Air Piracy docket: Machine Gun in the Cabin, The Eight-Hour Standoff, The Locker Bomb and more.
10 real trials of America's most notorious hackers -- worms, botnets, and the dark web. Regular Session.
Open the System Breach docket: A Virus That Crashed Email Servers, Botnet Built From Home Devices, Breach of a Private Intelligence Firm and more.
10 real prosecutions of the insiders who leaked the nation's secrets -- from the Pentagon Papers to the drone files. Regular Session.
Open the State Secrets docket: A Report Read To A Reporter, Five Documents To A Blogger, Naming A Covert Officer and more.
15 real corruption trials of American governors, mayors, and statehouse power-brokers. Extended Session.
Open the Statehouse docket: A Board Seat For A Cheque, Cheap City Land, City Hall for Sale and more.
5 real foreign-bribery cases - secret payoffs, oil deals, and the FIFA scandal, all tried in U.S. courts. Short Session.
Open the Greasing Palms docket: A Global Bribery Machine, Soccer Rights for Sale, The Gas Plant Contracts and more.
10 real trials of the insiders and rivals who stole America's corporate secrets - source code, formulas, and blueprints. Regular Session.
Open the Stolen Secrets docket: An Intelligence Officer Abroad, Borrowed Password, New Firm, Downloads After the Job Offer and more.
10 real cases of cheating Uncle Sam - defense contractors and health-care giants who looted the public purse. Regular Session.
Open the False Claims docket: The Air Defence Gun Overruns, The Clerk on the Payroll, The Drug Price Spread and more.
From the Marshall Trilogy to the Montana test — the cases that built and bounded tribal sovereignty. Long Session.
Open the The Domestic Dependent Nation docket: A Drink on Ceded Land, A Grand Jury Of Five, A Killing On The Reservation and more.
Jurisdiction at the edge of the map — bays, borders and the high seas. Short Session (5 cases).
Open the Whose Waters? docket: Past the Three-Mile Line, Someone Else's Rulebook, The Mouth of the Bay and more.
Homicide and violence on fishing trips and charter boats. Regular Session (10 cases).
Open the Overboard docket: Course for Home, Cutting the Trap Lines, Forced Over the Rail and more.
Caught in the act: poaching, over-limit and closed-season takes across two centuries. Regular Session.
Open the The Poacher's Docket docket: Farther Out Than True, Forty Dollars a Shell, Fourteen Thousand Pounds Over and more.
Shrimp boats, trawlers and the great marijuana-smuggling era of the Gulf and Caribbean. Extended Session (15 cases).
Open the Square Grouper docket: A Boat From Nowhere, Adrift Under a Rag Sail, Bales Over the Side and more.
Trafficking, smuggling and fraud in the fish trade — spiny lobster, caviar, and the Codfather. Long Session (25 cases).
Open the The Black Market docket: A Lookout on the Dock, Bagged, Not Boxed, Bait Off the Books and more.
Fishing laws tested in criminal court: a commercial fisherman with no licence, and three men arrested for spearing fish on land their nation had ceded by treaty.
Open the The Fisherman's Rights docket: The Spear and the Treaty, The Unlicensed Net.
Oyster beds and the public fishery: a coasting sloop forfeited for dredging oysters with banned gear.
Open the Whose Fish Are They? docket: Licensed to Dredge.
The edge of the map: the high seas, and the vessels and cargo seized out there.
Open the The Three-Mile Limit docket: Bought at Sea, Chased Past the Line, Inside Someone Else's Line and more.
Poaching rings, seafood fraud and quota cheats caught by the wardens. Regular Session.
Open the Busted! docket: A Little Extra Weight, Cash for Cucumbers, Eighty Pounds of Roe and more.
The right of taking fish at the usual and accustomed grounds. Short Session.
Open the Treaty Waters docket: Fifty Miles From Home.
Attorneys as defendants — Ponzi schemes, client-fund theft, judicial bribery and a legendary acquittal or two. Extended Session.
Open the Lawyers in the Dock docket: A Judgeship for Favourable Rulings, Billing Padded at the Firm, Getting to the Witnesses and more.
Judges prosecuted, impeached and told to step down — Operation Greylord to the Caperton coal-cash scandal. Regular Session.
Open the The Bench on Trial docket: A Judge Accused of Bribery, A Judge Under Investigation, Bribe For A Lighter Sentence and more.
Order in the court — the lawyers, witnesses and defendants held (or not) in contempt. Regular Session.
Open the Contempt of Court docket: Arguing Past The Ruling, Defendant Who Abused The Judge, False Will, No Jury and more.
This shelf holds the baseball dockets: 153 real cases in four series, Take Me Out to the Courthouse, Extra Innings, Seventh-Inning Stretch and Doubleheader, for lawyers (and everyone else) who live for the game.
Hot dogs, foul balls, mascots and a parking-lot beating: fifteen real fights over who answers when the game comes into the stands. Extended Session.
Open the Foul Territory docket: The Flying Frankfurter, The Base Coach Ambush, Behind the Short Fence and more.
A hacked scouting database, a gambling interpreter, tax cheats and a Brooklyn brawl: big-leaguers and baseball men in the criminal courts. Regular Session.
Open the Players in the Dock docket: The Password Left Behind, Yellow Light, Red Light, Lost in Translation and more.
Jumped contracts, free agency and baseball's strange antitrust exemption: ten courtroom fights over who owns a ballplayer and a ball club. Regular Session.
Open the The Reserve Clause docket: The Shortstop Who Walked Out, The Second Baseman Next Door, The First Baseman Who Jumped and more.
Owners and leagues take the commissioner to court over 'the best interests of baseball.' Short Session.
Open the The Commissioner's Office docket: The Shuffled Outfielder, The Map Redrawn, The Fire Sale Veto and more.
Fantasy stats, parody cards, a Brooklyn bar and 'Who's on First?': who owns baseball's names, numbers and stories. Short Session.
Open the Who Owns the Game? docket: The Old-Timers' Complaint, The Fantasy League Fight, The Bar That Kept the Name and more.
Foul balls, a flying chair, a muddy outfield and a bat carried to the mound: fifteen real cases about who pays when baseball hurts someone. Extended Session.
Open the Beanballs & Bleachers docket: Thirst on the Mezzanine, Her First Afternoon at the Park, Bullpen Versus the Bleachers and more.
A clubhouse caterer, a steroid supplier, ballplayer smugglers, a trimmed baseball card and a closer at a jewelry counter: baseball's criminal underside. Regular Session.
Open the The Shadow Dugout docket: The Blue Pill on the Road Trip, The Caterer's Side Menu, The Clubhouse Pharmacist and more.
A ravine for a ballpark, a franchise heading south, lights at an old park, a radio station in a rented house, tax bills, a banned manager and a clubhouse door: baseball's business in court. Regular Session.
Open the The Front Office docket: The Ravine for a Ballclub, Binoculars Over the Fence, Packing Up for the South and more.
A farmhand, a Mexican League jumper, a radio station, minor leaguers and a city all take a swing at baseball's one-of-a-kind antitrust exemption. Short Session.
Open the Baseball's Exemption docket: Sent Down to the Bushes, South of the Border Jump, Bus Rides and Small Checks and more.
Gum cards, an invented biography, a beer ad and the TV broadcast: who owns a ballplayer's face. Short Session.
Open the Cards & Faces docket: Faces on the Gum Wrapper, Cards Sold With Gum, The Medal He Never Won and more.
The Babe in a jail cell, a manager asleep at a green light, a payroll manager, a clubhouse stash and a forged-autograph wholesaler: baseball people in the criminal courts. Extended Session.
Open the Off the Bench docket: Dirt on the Outfielder, Uniform Under the Suit, Asleep at the Green Light and more.
Line drives, warm-up throws, a ball over the top of the screen and a stampede for a souvenir: ten real fights over who pays when the ball leaves the field. Regular Session.
Open the Heads Up! docket: High in the Bleachers, Behind the Yankees' Dugout, Over the Top of the Screen and more.
Play-by-play by telephone, tabletop leagues, the Babe's calendar, underpaid scouts and Shoeless Joe's back salary: who owns the money baseball makes off the field. Regular Session.
Open the The Paper Chase docket: Play-by-Play by Telephone, The Tabletop Big Leagues, The Babe on the Calendar and more.
Tax money, county bonds, a ballot petition, neighborhood parkland and a car dealer's crusade: five courtroom fights over who pays for the ballpark. Short Session.
Open the Stadium Wars docket: Public Money, Private Team, The Suburban Ballpark Bonds, Put It to the Voters and more.
A flying bat on the West Coast, a payoff for Seattle, a catcher who jumped back and overflow bleachers: the minor leagues in court. Short Session.
Open the Bush Leagues docket: The Bat That Slipped, Paid Off for Seattle, Carolina League Grievances and more.
Cheap bleachers, batting practice, a broken bat and a trip to the concourse, plus four ballplayers' drug cases: ten trials to fill the wait. Regular Session.
Open the Rain Delay docket: Saving on the Bleachers, Many Balls in the Air, First Game, Last Tooth and more.
A throw between innings, an usher's promise, TV blackouts, the 'evil empire' and a card collector's bible: five quick rulings. Short Session.
Open the Double Play docket: Toss Between Innings, The Usher Said Safe, Blacked Out at Home and more.
An oversold playoff, a riverfront stadium, forty dropped farm teams, a jumping outfielder and one more season in the Dome: five last-chance cases. Short Session.
Open the Bottom of the Ninth docket: Standing Room, No View, Stadium Before Sewers, Forty Teams Cut Loose and more.
This shelf holds the Alabama dockets: 30 real criminal cases in the Heart of Dixie series, every one decided by a jury, a judge or an appeals court — corruption on Goat Hill, homicide and robbery cases, strange charges and Alabama prosecutions that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
A House Speaker's consulting deals, a Birmingham mayor's shopping trips, a bingo vote, a sewer-office envelope and a sheriff's forty-year reign: ten real Alabama corruption cases decided by juries and judges. Regular Session.
Open the Trouble on Goat Hill docket: The Speaker's Side Deals, Shopping Trips to Manhattan, The Bingo Bill Bargain and more.
A grocery-store holdup, a courier at an ATM, a motel night clerk, police officers at the door and a beating in a briefing room: ten real Alabama violence cases where juries and appeals courts had the last word. Regular Session.
Open the Death in Dixie docket: The Body Under the Trailer, The Lieutenant Who Watched, The Grocery Store Tip and more.
A veterans-club check, a lawyer's secret bail-bond business, a farm-labor contract, absentee ballots and a holstered pistol at the credit union: five odd Alabama prosecutions. Short Session.
Open the Strange Charges docket: A Check Is Not Cash?, The Lawyer's Bail Bond Business, Twelve Dollars a Month and more.
An Easter march, an election-day editorial, an eight-hour interrogation, a capital jury with only two choices and a good Samaritan's killer: five Alabama prosecutions decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Short Session.
Open the Appeal to Washington docket: Easter Without a Permit, The Stranger With the Tow Rope, The Editorial on Election Day and more.
Curtain Call: real criminal cases from the world of ballet, decided by judges and juries.
A Degas ballerina that vanished from a deal, paint on the Little Dancer's case and a former ballet dancer killed at a corner store: three real ballet cases decided by judges and juries. Short Session.
Open the The Little Dancer docket: The Little Dancer Vanishes, Paint on the Dancer's Case, Death at the Corner Grocery.