Full metadata
Title
Syntactic cartography as a forensic linguistics tool: a retrospective analysis of prepositional phrases in two appellate court cases
Description
This thesis argues for the utility of syntactic cartography in representing and analyzing the disputed language of legal statutes. It presents an analysis of two appellate court cases, Flores-Figueroa v. United States (2009) and In re Sanders (2008). Each case involves a difference of opinion with respect to the position and function of prepositions found in 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1) and 11 U.S.C. § 1328(f), respectively. Informing the tree structures are Merlo and Ferrer's (2006) six diagnostics for PP attachment: head dependence, optionality, iterativity, ordering, copular paraphrase, and deverbal nouns. In Flores-Figueroa, the analysis yields a conclusion that affirms the court's decision, as does the analysis in Sanders, although it only concurs in part. Implications of the study and the overall cartography approach are discussed, including how it could impact the drafting of jury instructions and future legislation. The paper also addresses the unique heritage of legal language, the ways in which it contrasts with civic, non-legal English, and how its characteristics give rise to ambiguity and vagueness, two suitable phenomena for linguistic analysis. Further, it discusses the potential for providing linguistic input on active cases to the Supreme Court and other judicial bodies.
Date Created
2017
Contributors
- Petersen, Justin Bruce (Author)
- Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor)
- Renaud, Claire (Committee member)
- Adams, Karen (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
Resource Type
Extent
x, 83 pages : illustrations
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.44188
Statement of Responsibility
by Justin Bruce Petersen
Description Source
Retrieved on March 21, 2018
Level of coding
full
Note
thesis
Partial requirement for: M.A., Arizona State University, 2017
bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 75-81)
Field of study: English
System Created
- 2017-06-01 02:03:28
System Modified
- 2021-08-26 09:47:01
- 3 years 3 months ago
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