Judge’s Race or Gender Makes Difference

Two studies find that a judge's race or gender makes 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. One study of federal racial harassment cases found that plaintiffs lost only 54 percent of the time when the judge handling the case was an African-American, but 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. A second study looked at 556 federal appellate cases involving allegations of sexual harassment or sex discrimination and found that plaintiffs were at least twice as likely to win if a female judge was on the appellate panel. Judges of different races apparently took different approaches to interpreting the facts of the cases.

“Race & Gender of Judges Make Enormous Differences in Rulings, Studies Find,” ABA Journal, 2/6/10; http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/race_gender_of_judges_make_enormo...