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1 - An Ambient Bias

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2011

Benjamin H. Barton
Benjamin H. Barton
Affiliation:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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Summary

When I refer to the secret life of judges, I am speaking of an inner turn of mind that favors, empowers, and enables our profession and our brothers and sisters at the bar. It is secret, because it is unobserved and therefore unrestrained – by the judges themselves or by the legal community that so closely surrounds and nurtures us. It is an ambient bias.

– The Honorable Dennis Jacobs, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

THIS QUOTE COMES FROM A SPEECH, “THE SECRET LIFE OF Judges,” that Dennis Jacobs recently gave at the Fordham Law School. Judge Jacobs's remarks are exceptionally frank for any sitting judge, and are particularly startling from the chief judge of the Second Circuit. It is quite unusual for any judge or lawyer to discuss a bias in favor of the legal profession; it is a criticism that cuts too close to the bone. If and when cases crop up that favor the legal profession, lawyers, judges, and law professors are quick to explain them away as correct decisions that reflect the unique position of lawyers in the American justice system or as anomalies. This may explain why relatively little has been written about what I call the lawyer–judge bias.

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The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System , pp. 1 - 20
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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  • An Ambient Bias
  • Benjamin H. Barton, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Book: The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System
  • Online publication: 03 May 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791871.001
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  • An Ambient Bias
  • Benjamin H. Barton, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Book: The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System
  • Online publication: 03 May 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791871.001
Available formats
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  • An Ambient Bias
  • Benjamin H. Barton, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Book: The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System
  • Online publication: 03 May 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791871.001
Available formats
×