[ATTW-L] and the Georgia Indictment of Trump

[Dragga, Sam]

The new indictment of Donald Trump for 13 crimes in Georgia (as well as 18 associates for more crimes) offers a vivid example for class discussion of technical communication related to legal issues.

This 98-page indictment is available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/1ccdf52e-1ba2-434c-93f8-2a7020293967.pdf<https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/1ccdf52e-1ba2-434c-93f8-2a7020293967.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_5>.

The persistent legal language that characterizes this indictment makes for especially instructive comparison/contrast with

  *   The DOJ’s August 1 indictment of Trump for 4 crimes at https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.1.0_1.pdf.
  *   the DOJ’s June 8 indictment of Trump for 37 crimes at https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.3.0.pdf or the DOJ’s revised July 27 indictment of Trump for 3 additional crimes (i.e., a total of 40 crimes) at https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.85.0_2.pdf
  *   New York’s indictment of Trump for 34 crimes at https://www.manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Donald-J.-Trump-Indictment.pdf and the narrative of the 34 crimes at https://www.manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Donald-J.-Trump-SOF.pdf.

Instructors might consider assigning groups of students to

  *   assess the indictments for clarity, organization, visual display of information, sentence structure, plain language, etc., and develop a list of principles for writing effective/ineffective indictments
  *   adapt the indictments as a series of 3-minute videos or graphic narratives for prospective voters (or jurors)
  *   edit and revise the indictments as informative slide presentations for curious international audiences

I would also encourage the sharing of more and better class activities involving the indictments while we wait for the trials.

Sam

Sam Dragga
Professor Emeritus
Texas Tech University
sam.dragga at ttu.edu
1-806-543-6099

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