Corpus linguistics methodology used in Jan. 6 trial

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted December 5, 2022 11:12 AM

In one of the Jan. 6 prosecutions for obstruction of an official proceeding, where the government asked for an eight-level sentencing enhancement, a federal judge in the District of Columbia used the corpus linguistics methodology to determine whether Congress was engaged in “administration of justice,” under Sec. 2J1.2 of the U.S. sentencing guidelines, when it considered certification challenges under the Electoral Count Act of 1887.U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden searched through “relevant databases of naturally …

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