| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Race & Gender of Judges Make Enormous Differences in Rulings, Studies Find |
| 2010-02-13 |
| A judge's race or gender makes for a dramatic difference in the outcome of cases they hear—at least for cases in which race and gender allegedly play a role in the conduct of the parties, according to two recent studies. The results were the focus of a program about “Diversity on the Bench: Is the ‘Wise Latina' a Myth?,' sponsored by the ABA Judicial Division at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Orlando on Saturday afternoon. In federal racial harassment cases, one study (PDF) found that plaintiffs lost just 54 percent of the time when the judge handling the case was an African-American. Yet plaintiffs lost 81 percent of the time when the judge was Hispanic, 79 percent when the judge was white, and 67 percent of the time when the judge was Asian American. The comprehensive study, by professors from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, examined a random assortment of 40 percent of all reported racial harassment cases from six federal circuits between 1981 and 2003. A second study (PDF), looked at 556 federal appellate cases involving allegations of sexual harassment or sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The finding: plaintiffs were at least twice as likely to win if a female judge was on the appellate panel. University of Pittsburgh School of Law Professor Pat K. Chew, who co-authored the racial harassment study, said she found “the rule of law is intact' in the cases she reviewed. Judges—no matter which side they ruled for—took the same procedural steps to reach their decisions, she said. But judges of different races took different approaches “on how to interpret the facts of the cases,' she said. Pressed on whether the rule of law could actually be considered intact when outcomes varied so much depending on the race of the judge, she replied: "It's always made a difference who the judge was. We've long known, for instance, that a judge's political affiliation makes a difference." Judge Carol E. Jackson of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri said she was heartened that diversity has crept into the federal court system, where today 20 percent of judges are women and 15 percent are members of minority groups. "It's important that different voices are being heard," she said. The program took its title from a much-debated comment made years ago by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor : “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.' The participants never answered the question of whether a Latina judge reaches better conclusions, but at least in some cases, it appears likely that she would reach a different conclusion from a white male jurist hearing the same evidence. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #6 Race bias can be a profitable edge for smart sport punters. When all about are scratching their heads we collect our winnings. |
| Posted by: tipper 2010-02-13 22:25 |
| #5 We need more wise latinas? |
| Posted by: Muggsy Glink 2010-02-13 13:08 |
| #4 All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. "We don't need no stinking Constitution" - your diverse Federal judiciary. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-02-13 09:23 |
| #3 You are certainly correct g(r)om. If the study is valid, it simply highlights the fact that in a land where justice was designed to be blind, judicial diversity impacts legal outcomes. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-02-13 05:14 |
| #2 You and her use different definitions of "racism", Besoeker. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-02-13 04:50 |
| #1 University of Pittsburgh School of Law Professor Pat K. Chew, who co-authored the racial harassment study, said she found "the rule of law is intact" in the cases she reviewed. Judges--no matter which side they ruled for--took the same procedural steps to reach their decisions, she said. It's just "intact" for some a bit more than others. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-02-13 04:44 |