Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

dear colleagues -

 following up on susan's point about language -- i'd like to call your 
attention to a project i run at my law school called the "judicial 
language project" which involves a critical cultural/linguistic 
assessment of language used by appellate courts in decisions involving 
sexual violence.

 i developed this project a couple of years ago because, like susan, 
i've noticed seriously inappropriate language in the public 
conversation about sexual violence in culture and in law - and there 
was nobody out there talking about the harm of, for example, using 
highly erotic terms to describe criminally violent behavior -
 one of my pet peeves is use of the phrase "performed oral sex" to 
describe and act of rape via penile-oral penetration --

 not only is it erotic, the word "performed" implies moral 
responsibility and connotes active willing participation on the part of 
the victim

 our project is available to the public for no fee -- and works as an 
alert service as well as a searchable database --

 the process involves a preliminary scan of cases on a daily basis - 
which i do of all appellate decisions around the country -- and when i 
identify improper language - i assign the case to a student to 
summarize and critique -

 we sometimes go so far as to send a kind of "letter to the editor" 
critique to the court in question, urging them to be more mindful of 
language in future cases - in circumstances where we've taken this 
step, we've included signatories to the letter form various disciplines 
to impress upon the court that it is a criticism not of the result or 
substantive legal analysis but a broader concern about the impact of 
the court's language on society.

you can access more information and sign up for the service at the new 
england school of law's center for law and social responsibility - 
nesl.edu

you'll notice another item at this location called the "sexual violence 
legal news" project -- which i also run -- and involves an alert 
service regarding appellate decisions wrothy of note that reflect 
important public policy or noteworthy trends involving sexual violence -

again -- this service is free but you need to sign up to receive the 
summaries --

note that the projects were down this summer while we edited the forms, 
etc - so they may not be up again, yet -- but they will be soon -

wendy murphy