Study shows that judges still suffer from bias

by | May 3, 2019 | Child Custody, Firm News |

If you end up going to court over your child custody rights, you know that the judge should not be biased against you based on your gender, race, age or any other such factors. For instance, the judge should not give preference to your ex because she is a woman and you are a man. Both parents deserve to have time with their children.

Your judge, most likely, also understands this. Modern courts are not supposed to give in to biases that have historically plagued this system.

However, a new study found that family law judges are still biased and it does still sway their thinking, whether they know it or not. In fact, a judge with greater levels of expertise may be more biased when making critical decisions than a judge who does not have the same high level of experience.

“Judges tend to believe that their vast amount of legal training and logical thinking skills make them immune to these mistakes,” said one researcher. “This research is showing that judges are not as immune as maybe they think they are…The gender ideologies test measured how much the judges consciously support traditional gender roles, where women are more or less confined to domestic caregiving roles and men are confined to more public, career-based roles.”

These are, as she notes, the traditional roles that often governed society. In 2019, though, society has largely moved beyond that. Men and women both help raise children, and they have a more equal presence in the workforce than they did in previous decades.

You deserve a judge who is unbiased and who makes decisions that reflect this modern reality. If that’s not what you get, you definitely want to know what legal options you have.

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