Resnik Featured in Wall Street Journal Article Analyzing Language in the Supreme Court

Philip Resnik, a professor of computer science with appointments in UMIACS and linguistics, was featured in a July 15 Wall Street Journal article analyzing how the tone of oral arguments has become friendlier in cases that have come before the Supreme Court since Chief Justice John Roberts was appointed in 2005.

According to transcripts, to a greater degree than any time since 1955, when the court started recording its proceedings, the nation’s top justices have taken to referring to the lawyers arguing cases not as “opponents” or “adversaries” but “friends.” Some lawyers have also adopted the term to refer to opposing counsel.

Resnik assisted the Wall Street Journal in analyzing transcripts provided by Chicago-Kent College of Law's Oyez Project, a free law archive.

“Below the level of consciousness, we often match our language to that of somebody who is more powerful in a given situation,” says Resnik.

See more here