Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Notre Dame Law Review
Publication Date
2009
ISSN
0745-3515
Page Number
1195
Keywords
judges, race discrimination, discrimination in justice administration
Disciplines
Civil Rights and Discrimination | Judges | Law
Abstract
Race matters in the criminal justice system. Black defendants appear to fare worse than similarly situated white defendants. Why? Implicit bias is one possibility. Researchers, using a well-known measure called the implicit association test, have found that most white Americans harbor implicit bias toward Black Americans. Do judges, who are professionally committed to egalitarian norms, hold these same implicit biases? And if so, do these biases account for racially disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system? We explored these two research questions in a multi-part study involving a large sample of trial judges drawn from around the country. Our results - which are both discouraging and encouraging - raise profound issues for courts and society. We find that judges harbor the same kinds of implicit biases as others; that these biases can influence their judgment; but that given sufficient motivation, judges can compensate for the influence of these biases.
Recommended Citation
Chris Guthrie, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Sheri Lynn Johnson, and Andrew J. Wistrich,
Does Unconscious Racial Bias Affect Trial Judges?, 84 Notre Dame Law Review. 1195
(2009)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/816