According to an upcoming article in the Rutgers Law Journal, the speaking and questioning behavior of U. S. Supreme Court Justices during oral argument is influenced by whether the arguing attorney is a man or a woman.
The article is based on an empirical analysis of 57 sets of oral argument transcripts from 2004 and 2009, before Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined the Court. The authors found that liberal justices tend to ask more questions and do less talking when interacting with female attorneys, while conservative justices tend to do just the opposite. They also found that liberal justices speak 60% more to female attorneys who represent a conservative position, while conservative justices speak 22% less to female attorneys representing a liberal position.
Click here for a press release summarizing the findings and here for the full article.
