May 20, 2025
The law, linguistics and (not) naming racial bias
In the courtroom, where speech is the primary currency, understanding how language is perceived, particularly nonstandard or racialized dialects, is critical to achieving justice.
Sam Jacobs
Adjunct Lecturer
UC Berkeley School of Law and USF School of Law
She spent her litigation career representing people sentenced to death in state and federal post-conviction proceedings.
In the courtroom, words are the most powerful tools we have.
Trial testimony, legal pleadings, and court opinions gain meaning from not only what we say, but also how we say it. As renowned author and editor Toni Morrison described in her 1993 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, "Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge." Right now, the particular...
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