Michele LaVigne
The prevalence of language deficits and impairments among criminal defendants and their effects on the quality of justice.
Distinguished Clinical Professor; Director, Public Defender Project Law School Work: 608-262-9859 — Home and cell phones available upon request michele.lavigne@wisc.edu Home page
Topics
- The wide ranging effects of language impairments in the various stages of the criminal and juvenile justice systems, from interrogation to sentencing.
- The effects of a defendant's language deficits on the attorney-client relationship.
- Failure of courts and other players in the legal system to understand and accommodate language deficits among defendants.
- Issues confronting deaf individuals in the criminal justice system.
Achievements
- Series of articles on language impairments among juvenile and adult defendants, including Brendan Dassey (Making a Murderer): https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=549803
- Article describing the due process violations routinely confronting deaf defendants: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1744291
- Numerous presentations on language impairments to legal organizations around the country