Archive for September 2016

Navigating the Rocky Road

47 Navigating the Rocky Road Bethany K. Dumas When I think of Peter Tiersma, two words come to mind immediately: steadfastness and success, hallmarks of his professional life as a legal scholar. When I think of Peter Tiersma and jury instructions, the expressions that come to mind are comprehensibility and . . . Read more

Sizzling Irons: Speaking of Criminal Justice

44 Sizzling Irons SPEAKING OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE Frances Rock In his 1990 paper “The Language of Perjury,” Peter Tiersma revisits the story of Tristan and Isolde. He notes that the medieval practice of trial by ordeal (specifically the ordeal of grasping burning irons), on which the story hinges, has been . . . Read more