Roger W. Shuy is Distinguished Research Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University. One of the foremost scholars in sociolinguistics, he has also pioneered the field of forensic linguistics, the application of linguistics to criminal law. He is the author of numerous books, most recently The Language of Confession, Interrogation and Deception (Sage, 1998) and Language Crimes (Blackwell, 1993). He currently lives in Missoula, Montana.