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Schuetz
takes communication theories from classroom to courtroom
By Laurie
Mellas-Ramirez
UNM
undergrads in Janice Schuetzs legal communication course
are seated in an Albuquerque courtroom this month watching legal
eagles maneuver in a capital murder trial.
A UNM communication
professor for 23 years, Schuetz says the assignment shifts rhetoric
to real life. From jury selection to judge interaction, studying
trials is a great way to show how these communication theories
have practical examples, she says.
An expert
in legal, political and religious communication, Schuetz has scrutinized
and written about New Mexicos most infamous trials from
Gordon Houses DUI to New Mexico State student Carly Martinezs
brutal murder.
National
cases fall under her realm, too. She wrote a book contrasting
O.J. Simpsons criminal and civil trials and recently published
a book chapter examining moral reasoning in the feature film Dead
Man Walking. She will be studying and writing about Sept. 11-related
trials of the American taliban and shoe bomber.
The
goal is that my research will have practical applications to help
litigators improve their communication in the courtroom,
she says. Im interested in all kinds of argument as
communication. I like to look at films as persuasive text.
The popularity
of Court TV and crime-laden local and national news are proof
enough that viewers today are tuned into the criminal justice
system.
People
are interested in communication in the courtroom. Its part
of our civic duty to know how our courts are run. The prosecutors
and judges they are paid public officials. We spend a tremendous
amount of dollars on court proceedings in this country,
Schuetz says.
Technology
has made a significant impact on legal communication. Jurors cradle
laptop computers in federal courtrooms and, in the Martinez case,
email correspondence sent from the perpetrator to the victim turned
out to be the most damning evidence, she says.
Schuetz has
seen it all in the courtroom, but what tugs most at her heartstrings
is the devastation caused to families of victims and perpetrators.
Many can now communicate their pain in the courtroom. Victims
rights and the laws that allow victim impact statements are relatively
new, yet incredibly important to a trial. What a victim or family
member stands up and says can mean the difference between life
without parole or the death penalty for the defendant, she
says.
This summer
she will give a paper in Amsterdam that looks at victim impact
statements from the Timothy McVeigh/Oklahoma City federal building
bombing trial.
Another communication
evolution is that jurors can now ask questions through the judge
and take notes in the jury box. Some of the system is archaic.
Communication cant be passive. The law is finally catching
up with communication theory, she says.
Her research
into political and religious communication has also resulted in
numerous publications. Her book due out the end of this month,
titled, Episodes in the Rhetoric of Government-Indian Relations,
concentrates on the persuasive and public strategies of both government
and Indian leaders, focusing on the written and oral records of
key episodes in history.
All of Schuetzs
research interests carry over to her personal life.
She has worked
on several political campaigns as a speechwriter and issue researcher.
For the UNM Newman Center she sponsors the student group, organizes
the faculty lecture series and fundraises for scholarships. The
law pops up in her favorite books, true crime novels.
But she does
have diversions.
My
favorite TV show is the Antiques Roadshow. I go to estate sales,
the flea market -- and I garden, she shares.
With husband
Andrew Burgess, director of the UNM Religious Studies Program,
she enjoys Lobo events, the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins.
Asked why she has stayed in education when folks with her legal
communication background serve as $1 million-a-pop jury consultants,
she replies, Its a good life.
What
you do for fun you can do for work, she says. Where
else can you go to a movie and turn it into work? The context,
the theories and channels of communication are constantly changing.
Its not something thats old and done with.
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