WHAT IS LINGUISTIC EVIDENCE?

A text with some evidentiary value in legal proceedings comes in many different forms to police officers, detectives, private investigators, security specialists, intelligence analysts, attorneys and private individuals. Some civil actions are obviously associated with certain types of linguistic evidence, such as trademarks, service marks, and patent applications. In certain criminal scenarios, some forms of linguistic evidence are likewise obvious: a bank robbery note, a threat letter, a suicide note, a ransom note. It is clear, from these kinds of documents, that linguistic evidence can play a crucial role in investigating a crime, and the crime with which such a document is associated is also obvious, although sometimes this kind of document is a red herring to cover up a different kind of crime. For instance, in actual cases, a suicide note has been written to disturb or obfuscate a murder; a threat letter has been sent in order to provide a false lead away from conspirators.  Whether in civil or criminal scenarios, the words themselves are critical pieces of evidence in proving some aspect of the crime or civil trespass.


But some forms of linguistic evidence are not so well-known, and the crimes or civil actions to which they attach are likewise not so obvious. Blog posts, dating website profiles, handwritten codicils and wills, business emails and memoranda, personal emails within a family or corporation, graffiti sprayed on a shop’s wall –these kinds of linguistic evidence can occur in many different kinds of crimes or civil and security investigations.


    Often the crucial investigative issues are:


1. author/speaker identification: Who authored this document? Who spoke this voicemail message?

2. intertextuality: Are these texts or screen names related to each other? Are these trademarks too similar?

3. text typing: Is this document really what it purports to be --- is it a real suicide note, a real threat letter, a real confession, a real predatory chat, etc?

4. linguistic profiling: What can be determined about the author’s background from this text?


The stakeholders for linguistic evidence are the law enforcement, investigative and security community, the academic and research community, the legal community, and any citizen whose life, liberty or finances can be affected by the proper or improper use of linguistic evidence in criminal or civil litigation.


WHAT IS THE INSTITUTE FOR LINGUISTIC EVIDENCE?

A non-profit scientific research organization devoted to developing and testing forensic linguistic methods

The Institute for Linguistic Evidence was founded in 1998 by Dr. Carole E. Chaski as a non-profit, scientific research organization and soon thereafter granted 501(c) 3 status by the United States Internal Revenue Service. ILE was incorporated by Joseph W. Roskos, CPA, JD as a non-profit, scientific research organization, on the 5th of June 1998 in the State of Delaware.

On the 3rd of December 2003, the Internal Revenue Service confirmed ILE as tax-exempt under section 501 (c) 3 and classified ILE as a public charity under 170 (b) (1) (A) (vi).  The public charity status enables ILE to receive funding from donors, private foundations as well as government agencies. ILE has successfully maintained its tax-exempt status since it was first granted.  ILE pays an annual franchise tax to the Delaware Department of State Division of Corporations and files requisite reports to the Internal Revenue Service through S. Thomas Sombar, CPA.

ILE conducts pioneering research and development for methods of handling language as evidence and providing validated, tested and proven methods for answering forensically significant questions.

Dr. Chaski has conducted validation testing for language-based methods of handling linguistic evidence since 1994. She continued this work, and general approach to forensic linguistics, at the National Institute of Justice, where Dr. Chaski held the first Visiting Research Fellowship in the Office of Science and Technology, Investigative and Forensic Sciences Division from 1995 - 1998. At the urging of her NIJ program manager, Dr. Chaski founded ILE to continue the work of validation testing for linguistic evidence.

ILE has been funded by the United States Department of Justice National Institute of Justice, research projects for major corporations, and private philanthropy.

ILE has also begun, in 2009, to provide funding for forensic linguistic research in the form of mini-grants. Grant application procedures and the 2009 grantees can be found on our Research page.

When ILE's development and validation testing of linguistic methods warrant the use of such methods in an investigative or forensic capacity, the research tools are made available to law enforcement, security consultants, government agencies, corporations, and attorneys. Based on litigation-independent ILE research, our forensic consulting services and web-accessed forensic software are provided through ALIAS Technology LLC.

If you need help solving a forensic linguistic problem for an investigation or case, please click this link.

 

ILE MISSION AND GOALS

ILE’s mission, most succinctly stated, is pioneering research for proven results in linguistic evidence based on validation testing using vetted databases, computer implementations and statistical modeling.


ILE’s mission is realized in four goals, whereby ILE researchers and collaborators

1.conduct pioneering research and development for admissible methods of handling language as evidence;

2.develop prototype implementations and standard operating protocols of validated, tested and proven methods so that these methods can be implemented in accessible, user-friendly tools for use by interested parties;

3.publish evaluations of methods in order to protect the justice system from unvalidated and/or unreliable methods;

4.educate law enforcement, digital forensic examiners, attorneys, security investigators and intelligence analysts about validated and reliable methods.


ILE VISION

ILE’s vision, most succinctly stated, is a justice and security system handling linguistic evidence with validated, reliable, user-friendly, accessible toolkits.

Serving Our Stakeholders

The legal, law enforcement, security and intelligence communities are the stakeholders which ILE (and the field of forensic linguistics in general) must serve.


ILE envisions a day –in the not too distant future—when software tools combining rigorous linguistic analysis and statistical modeling are available to and regularly used by law enforcement detectives, security investigators, intelligence analysts, and legal investigators in various settings, such as crime labs, prosecutor’s offices, innocence projects, public defenders offices, fusion centers, business intelligence departments and agencies for national security and intelligence.


ILE research provides the fundamental testing and development that makes this vision an imminent reality. When ILE's development and validation testing of linguistic methods warrant the use of such methods in an investigative or forensic capacity, the research tools are initially in a prototyped format specifying reliable algorithms, data requirements and known error rates.


Once this point is reached, technology transfer is required to make the prototypes available to law enforcement, security consultants, intelligence analysts, government agencies, corporations, attorneys and their clients.

ILE, ALIAS Technology LLC and Technology Transfer

ALIAS Technology LLC completes the technology transfer by developing user-friendly and accessible implementations.  ALIAS’ team for web programming, network design and administration, database connectivity and digital forensic security develop formats for the delivery of ALIAS technology in web-based, network-based and application-integrated formats, designed to meet the needs of different clients.


In every platform on which ALIAS resides, certain data structures are implemented:

  1. • each user’s data is segregated and protected so that only the designated user can access the data;

  2. • all the data is stored in ALIAS and also stored in another server;

  3. • data which has been processed through any analysis to which a report attaches cannot be removed from the system or    edited in any way.


These data implementations preserve the chain of custody and security for the user’s documentary data, and enable the ALIAS reports to remain accurate and stable. If changes to the documentary data are made, analyses must be re-run.


ILE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

ILE consists of three components: The Board of Directors, The Advisory Council and TALE Membership.


The Board of Directors is responsible for developing the policy and direction of ILE and has voting power. The Executive Director is a voting member of the Board of Directors and responsible for executing the policy, direction and projects determined by the Board. The Executive Director also engages administrative and research support as needed. The Executive Director manages the day-to-day operations and works with other Board members on specific projects (such as fundraising, publishing and dissemination of results, research collaboration).


The Advisory Council contributes advice to the Board on policy and direction but does not vote on policy matters.  Advisors are subject matters experts and significant, well-respected representatives of stakeholder communities.


TALE: The Association for Linguistic Evidence is open to law enforcement, private investigators, security consultants, lawyers, judges, and researcher-practitioners. The TALE membership contributes to the educational and publishing outreach of ILE, but does not vote on policy matters. TALE members participate in educational conferences, webinars and publications, and can vote on TALE committees on educational issues and implementation strategies.


Copyright 1998 - 2010 Institute for Linguistic Evidence and Carole E Chaski PhD. You must obtain permission from ILE before you copy information from this site. You must acknowledge ILE and Carole E Chaski PhD in any information from this site for which you receive permission to quote. Contact cchaski@LinguisticEvidence.org for copyright permission.

Language as Evidence    Corporate Information    TALE: The Association for Linguistic Evidence    Research News