About
Meet Dr. Juandalynn Taylor,
Ph.D., J.D.
As the founder & director, Dr. Juandalynn Taylor is a mitigation specialist, communication & cultural studies expert, social scientist, and legal scholar. Leading the organization for over 19 years, Dr. Taylor brings together powerful interdisciplinary approaches to case work.
As a recognized expert in mitigation and racial bias, Dr. Taylor also empowers teams to analyze how language, bias, and race intersect in criminal cases—and to challenge those biases with research-backed arguments.
Background
Education
Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University
Juris Doctorate
AMJR/CALI Immigration Law
Certificate specialization in International & Immigration Law
Fellow Center for International & Immigration Law
Houston, Texas
2007
2006 – 2007
Texas A&M School of Law (formerly Texas Wesleyan University)
Pursuing Juris Doctor
Transferred, night program
Forth Worth, Texas
2003 – 2005
University of Texas at Austin
Doctor of Philosophy — Communication Studies, Rhetoric and Political Communication
Certificate specialization in Teaching in Higher Education- Curriculum, Instruction, and Design
Austin, Texas
2000
Texas Christian University
Master of Science — Human Communication
Forth Worth, Texas
1995
University of Texas at Arlington
Bachelor of Arts — Speech Communication
Arlington, Texas
1993
Academic Appointments
Gonzaga University School of Law
Visiting Assistant Professor
Visiting Assistant Fellow of Law
Courses Taught: Evidence, Death Penalty Seminar, Constitution Law II
Spokane, Washington
2022 – 2024
Seattle University School of Law
Adjunct Clinical Professor of Law
Courses Taught: Criminal Law Externship
Spokane, Washington
2021 – 2022
Temple University College of Communications
Assistant Professor, Department of Strategic & Organizational Communications
Sequence Head, Rhetorical Studies Division
Faculty Member, University Faculty Develop Facilitator
Courses Taught: Communication & the Law (First Amendment), Advocacy,
Rhetoric & Storytelling in the Courtroom, Rhetoric & Social Movements, and Persuasion.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2008 – 2011
2008 – 2011
2009 – 2011
College of Communications, University of North Texas
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Studies
Director of Study Abroad, Cuba Program
Courses Taught: Rhetoric & Nationalism, Rhetorical Criticism, and Classical Rhetoric (jurisprudence)
Denton, Texas
2002 – 2005
University of Idaho
Visiting Scholar, School of Communications & Sociology/Anthropology/Justice Studies
Associate Director, Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Diversity & Human Rights
Interim Director, Office of Multicultural Affairs
Moscow, Idaho
Spring 2001
Summer 2001
Xavier University of Louisiana
Assistant Professor, College of Communications
New Orleans, Louisiana
1999 – 2001
Legal Teaching Areas
Criminal Law, Evidence, Constitutional Law, Race & the Law, and Legal Jurisprudence.
Legal Research Areas
The intersection of Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Race & the Law, Death Penalty, and Legal Jurisprudence.
Publications
Juandalynn Taylor & Brian Richardson, Sexual Harassment at the Intersection of Race and Gender: A Theoretical Model of the Sexual Harassment Experiences of Women of Color, 73 W.J. COMMC’N. 248 (2009). Awarded by Western Journal of Communication in 2020 as One of Three Most Important Articles on Race in the field of Communication Studies in the past 20 years. (Study supported by University of North Texas Research Initiation Grant).
Juandalynn Taylor, Obama’s Place in History: Developing a Case for an Understanding of Black Political Rhetoric, NEWSL. FOR THE POL. COMMC’N. DIV. OF INT’L & AM. POL. SCI. ASS’N., Spring 2009, at 2.
Juandalynn Taylor & Brian Richardson, Powerlessness, Resistance, and the Understood ‘They’: Sexual Harassment at the Intersection of Race and Gender, INTERCULTURAL & INT’L COMMC’N. ANN. 68 (2006). (Study supported by University of North Texas Research Initiation Grant).
Juandalynn Taylor, Renee Espinoza, Federico Subervi-Valez, & Marc Bindel, Spanish-Language Daily Newspapers and Presidential Elections, in THE MASS MEDIA AND LATINO POLITICS: STUDIES OF US MEDIA CONTENT, CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES AND SURVEY RESEARCH 1984-2004 87-130 (Federico Subervi-Valez ed., Routledge 2004).
Juandalynn Taylor, Behind Door Number One, Two, or Three: A Rhetorical Analysis of Cuban and Haitian Citizenship Status (August 2000) (Ph.D. dissertation available digitally at University of Texas at Austin Library).
Juandalynn Taylor, African American or Black?: An Exploratory Field Study of Ethnic Identity and Communication Satisfaction During Intracultural Encounters (May 1995) (M.S. thesis available digitally at Texas Christian University).
Legislative Testimony
• “Methods of Execution: Emergency Legislation to Provide for Execution by Firing Squad.” Idaho HB 186. March 24, 2023. Asked by the Idaho Defense Bar to offer expert testimony on prisoner rights and legal history of executions.
• “Special sentencing rules for certain youth” (Granting juveniles the opportunity for parole instead of life sentences/ LWOP). Pennsylvania HB 1999, September 2009. Directly contacted by state representative Kenyetta Johnson to provide expert testimony on sentencing considerations for juveniles.
• “Uniform admission policy” (Texas 10% college admission plan). Texas HB 588- April 30, 1999. Nominated to speak by graduate student organizations.
Media Appearances
• “Payback killer,” Upcoming episode legal analyst “True Crime Documentary, TV ONE Network (May 4, 2024).
• “Missouri executes Michael Tisius after jurors waver on death sentence,” The New York Times (June 6, 2023).
• “The jurors sentenced a Missouri man to death. now some are not so sure,” The New York Times (June 5, 2023).
• “Payback killer, mitigation legal analyst, True Crime Documentary, TV ONE Network (Aired May 23, 2023).
• “Firing squad as constitutional method of execution,” News Nation (Mar. 23, 2023).
• “Doubts about Idaho Senate bill for firing squad as method of execution,” KREM3 (March 3,2023).
• “Jury deadlocks on death penalty, Jacob Holmes Jr. to serve life in prison” WFMZ-TV (Dec 21, 2020).
• “Life or death? Jury Is Now Deliberating That Question In Jacob Holmes Homicide Trial,” LehighValleyLive.com (Dec 21, 2020).
• “Date set in long-delayed murder trial for Jacob Holmes Jr.,” Pennsylvania 69 News (May 20, 2020).
• “The critical role this person has had in death penalty cases,” KSAT 12 (Aug. 17, 2017).
• “Bethlehem murderer deserves shorter sentence because of dismal upbringing, defense argues,” LehighValleyLive.com (Nov 10, 2014).
• “Convicted teen murderer asks for mercy in Bethlehem shooting,” The Morning Call, (Nov. 10, 2014).
• “Man who murdered Allentown man on Halloween 2008 faces 20 years in state prison” LehighValleyLive.com (Oct 5, 2012).
• “Alleged bloods member gets up to 40 years for Halloween slaying,” The Morning Call (Oct 5, 2012).
• “Death or life in prison? Chapman jury set to hear arguments,” Daily Local News (Nov, 12, 2012).
• “Defense in murder case seeking delay,” Daily Local News (Aug 7, 2011).