At Fort Irwin’s Law Day on May 1, Fort Irwin Middle School 5th graders gathered in their school gym to participate and watch a mock civil trial, Cinderella v. Evil Stepmother, staged by Fort Irwin’s Staff Judge Advocate Office.
Could Cinderella, newly married to Prince Charming, sue her stepmother for back wages for chores she did while living in her house with her two stepsisters?
The verdict was unanimous. The jury found for the defendant, Stepmother, played by Deputy Staff Judge Advocate Maj. Carol Brewer. The jury of 12 FIMS students decided that each member of a household has a responsibility to perform chores and is not entitled to be paid for chores performed.
“We used this story to show the importance of law in society, and how just decisions are reached in a dispute,” said Maj. Jerrod Fussnecker, chief of justice at the Fort Irwin Staff Judge Advocate office.