Louis Newman 14 min read

On Sknnbt, theft is honorable and legal, so when the alien Skrrgck immigrates to Earth and takes 'a license to steal' literally, the Galactic Tribunal faces a landmark case.

Louis Newman's 1959 story is a witty social-SF courtroom tale of clashing planetary customs. Clever, funny golden-age SF. Read it for a delightful legal comedy where one alien's honest theft becomes a galaxy-spanning question of law and culture.

In its time

Published in 1959, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

14 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

Wallace Wood