Ideology in the Language of Judges: How Judges Practice Law, Politics, and Courtroom Control / Edition 1

by Susan U. Philips

Overview

A study that will appeal to any reader interested in the relationship between our language and our laws, Ideology in the Language of Judges focuses on the way judges take guilty pleas from criminal defendants and on the judges' views of their own courtroom behavior. This book argues that variation in the discourse structure of the guilty pleas can best be understood as enactments of the judges' differing interpretations of due process law and the proper role of the judge in the courtroom.

Susan Philips demonstrates how legal and professional ideologies are expressed differently in interviews and socially occurring speech, and reveals how bounded written and spoken genres of legal discourse play a role in containing and ordering ideological diversity in language use. She also shows how the ideological struggles in a given courtroom are central yet largely hidden or denied. Such findings will contribute significantly to the study of how speakers create realities through their use of language.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195113419
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/16/1998
Series:	Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics , #17
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	1470L (what's this?)

About the Author

University of Arizona

Table of Contents

Introduction1. Ideology in Discourse2. The Myth of the Trial Court Judge as Nonideological3. Intertextual Relations between Written and Spoken Genres of Law4. Two Ideological Stances in Taking Guilty Pleas5. Judges' Ideologies of Courtroom Control6. Ideological Diversity in Legal DiscourseAppendixesAppendix A: Social Background QuestionnaireAppendix B: Career History InterviewAppendix C: Rule 17, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure: Pleas of Guilty and No ContestAppendix D: Plea AgreementAppendix E: Transcription NotationsAppendix F: Four Changes of Plea / Guilty Plea TranscriptsAppendix G: Refusal of Plea Agreement in Aborted Sentencing TranscriptNotesReferencesIndex