NCJ Number
172987
Journal
Judicature Volume: 81 Issue: 1 Dated: July-August 1997 Pages: 15-21-39
Date Published
1997
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The reports of task forces on sex discrimination in the courts reveal the persistence of biased handling of women and indicate that judges can have a strong influence on promoting equality of handling of females and males in their courts.
Abstract
Most State court systems and more than half the Federal circuits have conducted self-studies on the effects of gender, race, or other characteristics that can form the basis for harmful distinctions. Most of the gender studies have revealed areas in which gender inappropriately affects the handling of participants in the courts' work. Both task force reports and emerging case law also reveal that judges as adjudicators and administrators of justice can have a strong influence on changing habitual modes of thinking and acting and advancing individual justice on equal terms. They can accomplish this in several ways: (1) their treatment of all participants in the judicial process, (2) their handling of issues of law and fact in adjudication, (3) their responses to apparently biased behavior by attorneys and employees, (4) continuing education and interchange with other judges, and (5) judicial self-discipline. Judges also need to recognize that the perception of gender bias in a judge is more harmful to the legal system than is its appearance in other participants. They can learn from the reports and their recommendations on ways to eliminate gender bias. Footnotes, photograph, and box containing a description of a related publication for judges