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BYU Law Unveils Founding-Era Corpus

As America approaches Constitution Day amid the celebration of its 250th anniversary of independence, BYU Law has introduced a substantial new resource designed for legal scholars and researchers. This latest corpus features an impressive 7 million words derived from 14,000 texts drawn from the Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution (DHRC), an essential collection curated by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Center for the Study of the American Constitution at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Understanding the Corpus

A corpus is a vast database of written texts that serves as a critical tool for analyzing the language and meaning prevalent during a specific historical period. BYU Law, recognized for its leading role in corpus linguistics within the legal field, aims to shed light on the crucial terminologies and arguments central to the ratification of the United States Constitution. The newly released DHRC corpus will be accessible through BYU Law's platform, Law and Corpus Linguistics (LCL), available at lawcorpus.byu.edu. It represents a 20% expansion of the existing Corpus of Founding Era American English (COFEA).

This enriched resource not only broadens the historical landscape for legal inquiries but also enhances the analytical capabilities available to scholars, attorneys, and judges alike. According to David Armond, assistant dean for IT at BYU Law, "These additions help researchers better understand the language and arguments that shaped the Constitution's adoption. By making these sources searchable and accessible, we’re providing a richer picture of how constitutional language was used and understood during one of the most significant periods in American history."

The Scope of New Materials

The incorporation of the DHRC corpus offers a more comprehensive representation of the ratification period than previously available collections. While COFEA has long incorporated debates from various state conventions, the new DHRC corpus amplifies the primary-source texts available for investigation by more than 17 times. This resource introduces diverse authorship and viewpoints, including voices from lesser-known newspaper editors and pamphleteers who played a role in shaping public opinion during the ratification process.

Furthermore, the corpus links directly to the University of Wisconsin Libraries' complete collection, enabling researchers to easily transition between corpus analyses and the original documents.

The Role of Technology in Legal Research

The advent of artificial intelligence has transformed various sectors, including legal research. Yet, corpus linguistics remains one of the few methodologies that allow for rigorous examination of legal texts, ensuring transparency and verifiability of results. As constitutional interpretation continues to evolve, these corpus-based analyses become increasingly important in shaping debates around statutory meaning and the influence of new technologies in legal practice.

The collaboration of BYU Law students with AI-assisted tools has been key in identifying and extracting ratification-era materials, while also ensuring the corpus's integrity and quality. This project exemplifies the interplay between historical scholarship and modern technology in enhancing the understanding of legal language.

Ongoing Developments and Future Prospects

BYU Law has made significant strides since it established its corpus linguistics platform in 2016, fostering a space for discussions on language analysis within the legal community. The methodologies pioneered by the joint ventures between legal scholars, judges, and students have been utilized in state and federal court cases, indicating the practical implications of such academic endeavors.

As BYU Law continues to expand its resources within the LCL platform, it remains committed to advancing legal understanding and scholarship through corpus linguistics, paving the way for a deeper appreciation of the language that has shaped American governance. For more information about BYU Law’s innovative legal educational approaches, visit law.byu.edu.