Rhetor
The rhetorician of my chosen speech is Judge Rosemarie Aquilina. She is a mother of 5, attorney, and judge in the case of Larry Nassar. She has brothers who are doctors, “dedicated to healing,” and thus has no sympathy for Nassar, as he has sexually assaulted over 150 young girls in medical practice. This speech from her is 23 min long, and discusses his full sentence and her thoughts on such.
Audience
The audience she is speaking in front of is whoever is in the court room: victims, Larry Nassar, police officers, other attorneys, and the press. Judge Aquilina knows the press will be releasing her statements to the world, so she is speaking to more than those just in the court room. She does address the media in her speech, and says: “this story is not about me, it never was about me, I hope i’ve opened some doors.” She does not want to be the focus of this case.
Topic/Purpose
The topic of this speech is a call to action for why law enforcement had inaction on multiple accounts of sexual assault. It is also a call to action for young females to speak up. This speech thanks certain branches of law enforcement for working hard to get Nassar is jail, and many like Nassar. This speech is an inspirational notion for the #MeToo movement, and encourages every woman to have a voice and be given the opportunity to speak up against their predators. Since mostly improvised, the topic of this speech waivers back and froth between the wrong doings of Nassar and what people can do to prevent sexual assault.
Context
January 24, 2018 Judge Aquilina spoke in court against Larry Nassar for his final sentencing. She gives an impromptu speech for why Nassar will be sentenced to over a lifetime in prison with no bail or parol (175 years). Since his sexual assault of over 150 women, including women athletes, children, family friends, and so forth Judge Aquilina has made Nassar listen to every victim statement that wants to speak in court, a controversial move since it took over four full days of court room time. Women began to speak against Nassar during the #MeToo movement, and more and more emerged once Olympians began to speak out. Currently Nassar is in jail, and is also on trail for another account of child pornography.
“I just signed your death warrant” – Judge Aquilina
