Recently there was quite a stir over the possibility that Alexa, Amazon’s highly successful and useful home device, could be listening to everything everyone says (it’s too late, she has already heard what you have said), and that it could actually be used as evidence in a criminal trial. After all, “she” must be listening, since she is voice activated. This is an interesting realization. So, Alexa hears everything: she is always “aware.” It reminded me also that in a jury trial, a jury “sees” everything, is always looking, always assessing, always evaluating, and potentially judging what they see. Jurors certainly listen

Kellyanne Conway has introduced the concept of “alternative facts” into the political discourse with her defense of President Trump’s Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s assertions about crowd size at the presidential inauguration. Of course, this isn’t the first time this concept has been present in political discussions; in fact, the sales of George Orwell’s 1984 have skyrocketed since the inauguration as Americans reflect on some of the literature that introduces concepts like this. Laura Dominic and Alexis Knutson recently wrote about the potential presence of “alternative facts” in trials. Although these “facts” might not be appropriate, I have seen the introduction

The Radiolab spinoff podcast More Perfect recently aired an episode titled The Imperfect Plaintiffs, detailing the case of Lawrence v. Texas, a landmark Supreme Court case that evaluated the constitutionality of anti-sodomy laws. (If you haven’t heard of More Perfect, each episode uncovers the lesser-known details of a landmark Supreme Court case. Take a listen and test your knowledge.) The episode explains “test case litigation.” In test case litigation, the goal of certain individuals or groups of political activists is to overturn, or find unconstitutional, some law that’s currently on the books. However, in order to do so, they need

Alternative facts seem to be getting in the way a lot these days. Sean Spicer’s representation that President Trump’s January 20 inauguration audience “…was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe,” was quickly discounted given the aerial photograph posted by the Vox showing the opposite to be true. Kellyanne Conway’s attempt to explain that what Spicer claimed was not a “falsehood,” but rather simply “an alternative fact,” only made matters worse. The phrase “alternative facts” riddled headlines Monday morning, highlighting just how little tolerance the public has for twisting the truth.

Joyce E. Tsongas, a pioneer in the field of jury consulting, passed away with her family by her side on January 15, 2017. Joyce paved the way for modern day trial consulting and will always be known as one of the influential leaders in our field. Joyce was the daughter of a speech teacher and college debater, so communication was in her blood. So much so, she was the first woman to graduate with a Master’s degree in Communication from Purdue University. She made legal communication her profession when she founded Tsongas & Associates in 1978. She frequently recalled the