Linguistics on Trial: Race, Language, and the Law event set for Feb. 18 at the UCI Law School

The event entitled “Linguistics on Trial: Race, Language, and the Law” will examine language practices and its implications within the judicial system in the United States on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the UCI Law School.

This event is sponsored by the Orange County Superior Court’s Equal Access to Justice and Prevention of Bias Committee, the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association, and UCI Law School. 

Dr. Sharese King will share her research on the emerging problem of bias against non-standard English speakers, as distinguished from non-English speakers.

While it is universally accepted to enlist a foreign language translator when a court user does not speak English, the remedies of how to address non-standard English speakers in court are less clear.

Bench officers, attorneys, jurors and court users are often unaware of the biases they harbor when hearing non-standard English, including biases assuming the speaker is less educated, and/or less credible.

• REGISTRATION/MIXER 5:30 – 6:00 P.M. | PROGRAM 6 – 8:00 P.M.
• UCI LAW SCHOOL, DIVISION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION, YOSEMITE BALLROOM, BLDG 8
• Cost $30 – Providing 1.0 Implicit Bias CLE Credit and 1.0 Elimination of Bias CLE Credit
• Dinner Will Be Provided
• UCI Law School is located at 401 E Peltason Dr Suite 1000, Irvine, CA 92697

Discussion Facilitators:

• Hon. Sheila Hanson Assistant Presiding Judge
• Hon. Richard Y. Lee, Chair
• Hon. Michele Bell
• Hon. Bryan Clavecilla
• Hon. Lee L. Gabriel
• Hon. Juliet O. Macaulay
• Hon. Karen L. Robinson
• Hon. Carmen Snuggs-Spraggins
• Hon. Yolanda Torres
• Hon. Brian Waite
• Rebekah F. Thomas, Esq.

About Dr. Sharese King

Sharese King is the Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of Chicago who received her PhD in 2018 from Stanford University. Her previous research has drawn on phonetic, ethnographic, and experimental techniques to explore how African Americans’ speech is constructed and racialized and the implications for racialized voices within the judicial system in the United States. King is an expert on various topics in the study of African American Language including race and place, identity, and linguistic bias. King’s work has been published in venues such as American Speech, the Journal of Sociolinguistics, Language, and Nature.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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