This book by Roger W. Shuy, the senior figure in forensic linguistics, is the first to explain in an accessible way the vital role that linguistic evidence and its proper analysis play in criminal investigations. Shuy provides compelling case studies of how language functions in investigations involving, among others, wired undercover operatives, and the interrogation of suspects. He makes the point that language evidence can be as important as physical evidence, but yet does not enjoy the same degree of scrutiny by investigators, attorneys, and the courts. Beyond this, however, his more controversial thesis is that police frequently misuse or manipulate language, using various powerful controversial strategies, in order to intentionally create an impression of the targets' guilt or even to get them to confess. This book makes its case by analyzing a dozen criminal cases involving a variety of crimes, such as fraud, bribery, stolen property, murder, and others. About half involve co-operating witnesses who do the tape recording, and the other half undercover police officers. These cases demonstrate how undercover operatives use different conversational strategies, such as overlapping conversation, ambiguity, interruption, refusing to take "no" for an answer, and others to create a negative impression of the targets on later listeners. Creating Language Crimes provides a fascinating window into a little-known and discussed facet of law enforcement. It will appeal to anyone concerned with language (particularly sociolinguists and discourse analysts), as well as to those involved in law enforcement and criminal cases.

Why do so many people voluntarily consent to searches by have the police search their person or vehicle when they know that they are carrying contraband or evidence of illegal activity? Does everyone understand the Miranda warning? How well can people recognize a voice on tape? Can linguistic experts identify who wrote an anonymous threatening letter? Speaking of Crime answers these questions and examines the complex role of language within our criminal justice system. Lawrence M. Solan and Peter M. Tiersma compile numerous cases, ranging from the Lindbergh kidnapping to the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton to the JonBenét Ramsey case, that provide real-life examples of how language functions in arrests, investigations, interrogations, confessions, and trials. In a clear and accessible style, Solan and Tiersma show how recent advances in the study of language can aid in understanding how legal problems arise and how they might be solved. With compelling discussions current issues and controversies, this book is a provocative state-of-the-art survey that will be of enormous value to legal scholars and professionals throughout the criminal justice system.

The words we use to talk about justice have an enormous impact on our everyday lives. As the first in-depth, ethnographic study of language, Talking Criminal Justice examines the speech of moral entrepreneurs to illustrate how our justice language encourages social control and punishment. This book highlights how public discourse leaders (from both conservative and liberal sides) guide us toward justice solutions that do not align with our collectively professed value of "equal justice for all" through their language habits. This contextualized study of our justice language demonstrates the concealment of intentions with clever language use which mask justice ideologies that differ greatly from our widely espoused justice values. By the evidence of our own words Talking Criminal Justice shows that we consistently permit and encourage the construction of people in ways which attribute motives that elicit and empower social control and punishment responses, and that make punitive public policy options acceptable.This book will be of interest to academics, students and professionals concerned with social and criminal justice, language, rhetoric and critical criminology.

Tell kids not to worry. sorting my life out. be in touch to get some things. Instead of being a simple sms message, this text turned out to be crucial and chilling evidence in convicting the deceptive killer of a mother of two. Sent from her phone, after her death, tell tale signs announce themselves to a forensic linguist. Rarely is a crime committed without there being some evidence in the form of language. Wordcrime features a series of chapters where gripping cases are described - involving murder, sexual assault, hate mail, suspicious death, code deciphering, arson and even genocide. Olsson describes the evidence he gave in each one. In approachable and clear prose, he details how forensic linguistics helps the law beat the criminals. This is fascinating reading for anyone interested in true crime, in modern, cutting-edge criminology and also where the study of language meets the law.

The research represented in this volume, and in the series as a whole, is intended to provide critical analyses and findings that can underpin the development of language policies, practice guides and other resources that support a fair and accessible legal system. However, this will also require well-developed teaching and research programmes, so it is our intention that this volume will continue to support the growth of forensic linguistics in Southern African universities and nurture the next generation of scholars dedicated to forensic and legal linguistics. This aim will be supported by the newly formed African Association of Forensic and Legal Linguists (AAFLL), which will help to coordinate the study of forensic linguistics in Africa. This book series, Studies in Forensic and Legal Linguistics in Africa and Beyond, Volumes I, II, III and IV, continues to play an important role in bringing African forensic linguistic scholarship to a wider audience, while simultaneously promoting the field amongst academic and legal institutions in Africa.

Wretched writing is the lowest of the low; it is a felonious assault on the English language. Exuberantly excessive, it is a sin committed often by amateurs and all-too-frequently by gifted writers having an off day. In short, it’s very bad writing. Truly bad. Appallingly bad. It’s also very funny. A celebration of the worst writing imaginable, Wretched Writing includes inadvertently filthy book titles, ridiculously overwrought passages from novels, bombastic and confusing speeches, moronic oxymorons, hyperactive hyperbole, horribly inappropriate imagery in ostensibly hot sex scenes, mangled clichés, muddled metaphors, and unintended double entendres. Sit back and enjoy these deliciously dreadful samples, and try not to cringe too much.

In The Language of Fraud Cases, Roger Shuy follows the now well-established format of his previous volumes on language and law. He discusses here eight cases that he himself has consulted on, and that illustrate how linguistics can help to solve the various problems that arise in trying to define fraudulent language in the context of law. He examines speech events, schemas, agendas, speech acts, conversational strategies, as well as smaller language units such as sentences, phrases, words, and sounds, and discusses how these can play a major role in deciding fraud cases. The cases chosen for this volume hinge on recorded language evidence, making them particularly relevant for linguistic analysis, and include cases of government contracts, EPA regulations, foreign corrupt business practices, trade secrets, money laundering, securities trading, art theft, and price fixing. Through his examination of these cases, Shuy demonstrates the significant contribution of linguistic analytical methodology to the understanding of language evidence and its success in revealing willful uses of fraudulent language to achieve financial gain.

The manner in which criminal investigators are trained is neither uniform nor consistent, ranging from sophisticated training protocols in some departments to on-the-job experience alongside senior investigators in others. Ideal for students taking a first course in the subject as well as professionals in need of a refresher, Introduction to Criminal Investigation uses an accessible format to convey concepts in practical, concrete terms. Topics discussed include: The history of criminal investigation in Western society Qualifications for becoming an investigator, the selection process, and ideal training requirements Crime scene search techniques, including planning and post-search debriefing Preparing effective field notes and investigative reports Interviewing and interrogating Types of evidence found at the crime scene and how to collect, package, and preserve it The contributions of forensic science to criminal investigations and the equipment used in crime labs Investigative protocol for a range of crimes, including property crimes, auto theft, arson, financial crimes, homicide, assault, sex crimes, and robbery Specialized investigations, including drug trafficking, cybercrime, and gang-related crime Legal issues involved in criminal investigations and preparing a case for trial Bringing together contributions from law enforcement personnel, academics, and attorneys, the book combines practical and theoretical elements to provide a comprehensive examination of today‘s criminal investigative process. The accessible manner in which the information is conveyed makes this an ideal text for a wide-ranging audience.

Across America today gated communities sprawl out from urban centers, employers enforce mandatory drug testing, and schools screen students with metal detectors. Social problems ranging from welfare dependency to educational inequality have been reconceptualized as crimes, with an attendant focus on assigning fault and imposing consequences. Even before the recent terrorist attacks, non-citizen residents had become subject to an increasingly harsh regime of detention and deportation, and prospective employees subjected to background checks. How and when did our everyday world become dominated by fear, every citizen treated as a potential criminal? In this startlingly original work, Jonathan Simon traces this pattern back to the collapse of the New Deal approach to governing during the 1960s when declining confidence in expert-guided government policies sent political leaders searching for new models of governance. The War on Crime offered a ready solution to their problem: politicians set agendas by drawing analogies to crime and redefined the ideal citizen as a crime victim, one whose vulnerabilities opened the door to overweening government intervention. By the 1980s, this transformation of the core powers of government had spilled over into the institutions that govern daily life. Soon our schools, our families, our workplaces, and our residential communities were being governed through crime. This powerful work concludes with a call for passive citizens to become engaged partners in the management of risk and the treatment of social ills. Only by coming together to produce security, can we free ourselves from a logic of domination by others, and from the fear that currently rules our everyday life.