Talk about testimony: courtroom dialogue as racialized interactions

Abstract

Within the criminal legal system, judges, jurors, prosecutors, defense attorneys, experts, and law enforcement officers all might employ language or language practices in the courtroom that can evoke racial bias against an accused person, including by using coded language, innuendos, or particular questioning techniques and clarification strategies. In light of recent legislation, including the passage of the Racial Justice Act in California, which prohibits the use of racially biased language against an accused person by courtroom actors, we are at a crucial moment where dialogue between linguists and lawyers is imperative to define racially biased language and how it emerges. In this article, we provide guidance to help identify and address the ways race can be invoked through discursive strategies in the courtroom that do not make explicit mentions of race, and end with recommendations for ameliorating the potential harms that racial bias expressed during such interactions can cause.