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Is Justice Really Blind? Race and Reversal in US Courts

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  • Maya Sen

Abstract

I use two newly collected data sets to demonstrate that black federal district judges are consistently overturned on appeal more often than white district judges, with a gap in reversal rates of up to 10 percentage points. This gap is robust and persists after taking into account previous professional and judicial experience, educational background, qualification ratings assigned by the American Bar Association, and differences in appellate panel composition. In total, I find that approximately 2,800 additional cases authored by black judges have been reversed over the last 12 years. This study is among the first to explore how higher-court judges evaluate opinions written by judges of color, and it has clear implications: despite attempts to make the judiciary more reflective of the general population, racial disparities in the legal system appear to persist.

Suggested Citation

  • Maya Sen, 2015. "Is Justice Really Blind? Race and Reversal in US Courts," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(S1), pages 187-229.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:doi:10.1086/682691
    DOI: 10.1086/682691
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    1. Ashenfelter, Orley & Eisenberg, Theodore & Schwab, Stewart J, 1995. "Politics and the Judiciary: The Influence of Judicial Background on Case Outcomes," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 257-281, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Guimaraesy, Bernardo & Meyerhof Salama, Bruno, 2017. "Contingent judicial deference: theory and application to usury laws," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86146, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Sivaram Cheruvu, 2019. "How do institutional constraints affect judicial decision-making? The European Court of Justice’s French language mandate," European Union Politics, , vol. 20(4), pages 562-583, December.
    3. Bernardo Guimaraes & Bruno Meyerhof Salama, 2023. "Permitting Prohibitions," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 241-271.
    4. Chen, Daniel L. & Sethi, Jasmin, 2016. "Insiders, Outsiders, and Involuntary Unemployment: Sexual Harrassment Exacerbates Gender Inequality," IAST Working Papers 16-44, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
    5. Martian Iovan, 2016. "Values and ethical principles for practicing as magistrate/legal advisor out of the perspective of the codes and national and international statements of principles," Juridical Tribune - Review of Comparative and International Law, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, vol. 6(Special), pages 128-138, October.
    6. Guimarães, Bernardo de Vasconcellos & Salama, Bruno Meyerhof, 2017. "Contingent judicial deference: theory and application to usury laws," Textos para discussão 440, FGV EESP - Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil).
    7. Christina L. Boyd & Pauline T. Kim & Margo Schlanger, 2020. "Mapping the Iceberg: The Impact of Data Sources on the Study of District Courts," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 466-492, September.
    8. Liu, Chelsea, 2020. "Judge political affiliation and impacts of corporate environmental litigation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

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