How can we fight to reduce bias? 6th Circuit judge shares her thoughts

Studies have shown that implicit bias is something that affects everyone to some degree. So what steps can legal professionals at all ranks take to make the justice system fairer and more equitable?

In this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal’s Lee Rawles speaks with Judge Bernice Donald of the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and professor Sarah E. Redfield of the University of New Hampshire School of Law about Enhancing Justice: Reducing Bias, a book published by the ABA.

Redfield edited the collection—which contains contributions by more than 30 leading social scientists, lawyers, academics, trainers and judges—and co-wrote a chapter with Donald. They discuss the latest research on bias and give concrete tips for how we should confront bias going forward.

In This Podcast:

Lee Rawles
Judge Bernice Donald is a judge on Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She has previously served on the U.S. District Court, as the first African-American woman judge of U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and as the first African-American woman judge in Tennessee’s history. She is currently the chair for the ABA Center for Human Rights and co-chairs the ABA Judicial Division’s Joint Committee on Fighting Implicit Bias. She has spoken to a large variety of audiences on issues of race and bias, both implicit and explicit, and was a contributor to Enhancing Justice: Reducing Bias.

Sarah E. Redfield is professor emerita at the University of New Hampshire School of Law and affiliate professor at the University of New Hampshire College of Education. She is the recipient of the ABA Sadie Alexander award for lifetime achievement for her work with diversity and the education pipeline. Redfield co-chairs the ABA Judicial Division’s Joint Committee on Fighting Implicit Bias. She is the editor of Enhancing Justice: Reducing Bias and the author of Thinking Like a Lawyer: An Educator’s Guide to Legal Analysis and Research.