Hostname: page-component-669899f699-rg895 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-04T10:06:09.770Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Role of Nominee Gender and Race at U.S. Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Christina L. Boyd ,
Paul M. Collins Jr.  and
Lori A. Ringhand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We investigate an unexplored aspect of the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation process: whether questioning senators treat female and minority nominees differently from male and white nominees. Applying out-group theory, we argue that senators will ask female and minority nominees more questions about their “judicial philosophies” in an effort to determine their competence to serve on the Court. This out-group bias is likely to be exacerbated for nominees not sharing the senator's political party. Our results do not support racial differences, but they do provide strong evidence that female nominees receive more judicial philosophy-related questions from male senators. This effect is enhanced when the female nominee does not share the partisan affiliation of the questioning senator. Together, these findings indicate that female nominees undergo a substantively different confirmation process than male nominees. We further find that this effect may be most intense with nominees like Justice Sotomayor, whose identities align with more than one out-group.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 871 - 901
Copyright
© 2018 Law and Society Association.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

We are thankful to Amy Steigerwalt, Susan Sterett, the anonymous reviewers, and participants at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association and the 2017 UMass Interdisciplinary Legal Studies Colloquium. Collins and Ringhand thank the Dirksen Congressional Center for a research grant that partially funded the data used in this project. We also extend our gratitude to Bryce McManus for his excellent assistance on this project. The data used for this project are available at https://blogs.umass.edu/pmcollins/data/.

References

Arvey, Richard D. (1979) “Unfair Discrimination in the Employment Interview: Legal and Psychological Aspects,” 86 Psychological Bulletin 736–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bauer, Nichole M. (2015) “Emotional, Sensitive, and Unfit for Office? Gender Stereotype Activation and Support Female Candidates,” 36 Political Psychology 691–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biernat, Monica, & Fuegen, Kathleen (2001) “Shifting Standards and the Evaluation of Competence: Complexity in Gender-based Judgment and Decision Making,” 57 Journal of Social Issues 707–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biernat, Monica, & Kobrynowicz, Diane (1997) “Gender-and Race-based Standards of Competence: Lower Minimum Standards but Higher Ability Standards for Devalued Groups,” 72 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 544–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Binder, Sarah A., & Maltzman, Forrest (2002) “Senatorial Delay in Confirming Federal Judges, 1947-1998,” 46 American Journal of Political Science 190–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boddery, Scott S., Moyer, Laura P., and Yates, Jeff (2016) “Naming Names: The Impact of Supreme Court Opinion Attribution on Citizen Assessment of Policy Outcomes,” Unpublished paperCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borrelli, Maryanne (1997) “Gender, Credibility, and Politics: The Senate Nomination Hearings of Cabinet Secretaries-Designate, 1975-1993,” 50 Political Research Quarterly 171–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, Deborah Jordan (2013) He Runs, She Runs: Why Gender Stereotypes Do Not Harm Female Candidates. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bybee, Keith (2011) “Will the Real Elena Kagan Please Stand Up? Conflicting Public Images in the Supreme Court Confirmation Process,” 1 Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy 137–56.Google Scholar
Cameron, Charles M., Cover, Albert D., & Segal, Jeffrey A. (1990) “Senate Voting on Supreme Court Nominees: A Neoinstitutional Model,” 84 American Political Science Review 525–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, David E., & Wolbrecht, Christina (2006) “See Jane Run: Women Politicians as Role Models for Adolescents,” 68 Journal of Politics 233–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, Royce, Lewis, Jeff, Lo, James, McCarty, Nolan, Poole, Keith, and Rosenthal, Howard (2015) “DW-NOMINATE Scores with Bootstrapped Standard Errors,” https://voteview.com/data (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
Carter, Stephen L. (1994) The Confirmation Mess: Cleaning Up the Federal Appointments Process. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Christensen, Robert K., Szmer, John, & Stritch, Justin M. (2012) “Race and Gender Bias in Three Administrative Contexts: Impact on Work Assignments in State Supreme Courts,” 22 Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 625–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, Paul M. Jr., & Ringhand, Lori A. (2013a) Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings and Constitutional Change. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, Paul M. Jr., and Ringhand, Lori A. (2013b) “The U.S. Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing Database,” http://blogs.umass.edu/pmcollins/data/ (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
Collins, Paul M. Jr., & Ringhand, Lori A. (2016) “The Institutionalization of Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings,” 41 Law & Social Inquiry 126–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, Todd A., & Moyer, Laura (2008) “Gender, Race, and Intersectionality on the Federal Appellate Bench,” 61 Political Research Quarterly 219–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, Todd A., Dumas, Tao L., & Moyer, Laura P. (2017) “Being Part of the ‘Home Team’: Perceptions of Professional Interactions with Outsider Attorneys,” 5 Journal of Law and Courts 141–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberlé (1992) “Race, Gender, and Sexual Harassment,” 65 Southern California Law Review 1467–76.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberlé (2012) “From Private Violence to Mass Incarceration: Thinking Intersectionally About Women, Race, and Social Control,” 59 UCLA Law Review 1418–72.Google Scholar
Cuddy, Amy J. C., Fiske, Susan T., & Glick, Peter (2008) “Warmth and Competence As Universal Dimensions of Social Perception: The Stereotype Content Model and the BIAS Map,” 40 Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 61–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dancey, Logan, Nelson, Kjersten R., & Ringsmuth, Eve M. (2011) “‘Strict Scrutiny?’ The Content of Senate Judicial Confirmation Hearings During the George W. Bush Administration,” 95 Judicature 126–35.Google Scholar
Dancey, Logan, Nelson, Kjersten R., & Ringsmuth, Eve M. (2013) “Individual Scrutiny or Politics as Usual? Senatorial Assessment of U.S. District Court Nominees,” 42 American Politics Research 784–814.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, Adrienne D., & Wildman, Stephanie M. (1992) “The Legacy of Doubt: Treatment of Sex and Race in the Hill-Thomas Hearings,” 65 Southern California Law Review 1367–91.Google Scholar
Davison, Heather K., & Burke, Michael J. (2000) “Sex Discrimination in Simulated Employment Contexts: A Meta-analytic Investigation,” 56 Journal of Vocational Behavior 225–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, Kathleen (2014) “Gender Stereotypes, Candidate Evaluations, and Voting for Women Candidates: What Really Matters?” 67 Political Research Quarterly 96–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dovidio, John F., & Gaertner, Samuel L. (2000) “Aversive Racism and Selection Decisions: 1989 and 1999,” 11 Psychological Science 319–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dovidio, John F., Gaertner, Samuel L., Anastasio, Phyllis A., & Sanitioso, Rasyid (1992) “Cognitive and Motivational Bases of Bias: Implications of Aversive Racism for Attitudes Toward Hispanics,” in, Knouse, Stephen B., Rosenfeld, Paul, & Culbertson, Amy L., eds., Hispanics in the Workplace. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald (2009) “Justice Sotomayor: The Unjust Hearings,” (24 Sept.) New York Review of Books. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2009/09/24/justice-sotomayor-the-unjust-hearings/ (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
Eagly, Alice H., & Karau, Steven J. (2002) “Role Congruity Theory of Prejudice Toward Female Leaders,” 109 Psychological Review 573–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eagly, Alice H., Makhijani, Mona G., & Klonsky, Bruce G. (1992) “Gender and the Evaluation of Leaders: A Meta-Analysis,” 111 Psychological Bulletin 3–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eagly, Alice H., Wood, Wendy, & Diekman, Amanda B. (2000) “Social Role Theory of Sex Differences and Similarities: A Current Appraisal,” in, Eckes, Thomas, & Traunter, Hanns M., eds., The Developmental Social Psychology of Gender. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Epstein, Lee, & Segal, Jeffrey A. (2007) Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Epstein, Cynthia, Saute, Robert, Oglensky, Bonnie, & Gever, Martha (1995) “Glass Ceilings and Open Doors: Women's Advancement in the Legal Profession: A Report to the ‘Committee on Women in the Profession,’ the Association of the Bar of the City of New York,” 64 Fordham Law Review 192–378.Google Scholar
Epstein, Lee, Walker, Thomas G., Staudt, Nancy, Hendrickson, Scott, and Roberts, Jason (2013) “The U.S. Supreme Court Justices Database,” http://epstein.wustl.edu/research/justicesdata.html (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
Farganis, Dion, & Wedeking, Justin (2014) Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings in the U.S. Senate: Reconsidering the Charade. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, Adam, and Gill, Rebecca D. (2016) “Usurping Power: Interruptions and the Zero-Sum Game of Oral Arguments on the Supreme Court,” Unpublished paper.Google Scholar
Firth, Michael (1982) “Sex Discrimination in Job Opportunities for Women,” 8 Sex Roles 891–901.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiske, Susan T., & Taylor, Shelley E. (2013) Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture. 2nd ed. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foschi, Martha (2000) “Double Standards for Competence: Theory and Research,” 26 Annual Review of Sociology 21–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, James L., & Caldeira, Gregory A. (2009) Citizens, Courts, and Confirmations: Positivity Theory and the Judgments of the American People. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, Rebecca D., Lazos, Sylvia R., & Waters, Mallory M. (2011) “Are Judicial Performance Evaluations Fair to Women and Minorities? A Cautionary Tale from Clark County, Nevada,” 45 Law & Society Review 731–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gimpel, James G., & Wolpert, Robin M. (1996) “Opinion-Holding and Public Attitudes toward Controversial Supreme Court Nominees,” 49 Political Research Quarterly 163–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader (2007) “Remarks on Women's Progress at the Bar and the Bench for Presentation at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, August 11, 2006,” 30 Harvard Journal of Law & Gender 1–9.Google Scholar
Greene, Linda S. (1989) “The Confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the United States Supreme Court,” 6 Harvard Blackletter Law Journal 27–50.Google Scholar
Han, Lori Cox, & Heldman, Caroline, eds., (2007) Rethinking Madam President. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Haynie, Kerry L. (2002) “The Color of Their Skin or the Content of Their Behavior? Race and Perceptions of African American Legislators,” 27 Legislative Studies Quarterly 295–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heilman, Madeline E., & Haynes, Michelle C. (2005) “No Credit Where Credit is Due: Attributional Rationalization of Women's Success in Male-Female Teams,” 90 Journal of Applied Psychology 905–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inesi, M. Ena, & Cable, Daniel M. (2015) “When Accomplishments Come Back to Haunt You: The Negative Effect of Competence Signals on Women's Performance Evaluations,” 68 Personnel Psychology 615–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobi, Tonja, & Schweers, Dylan (2017) “Justice, Interrupted: The Effect of Gender, Ideology, and Seniority at Supreme Court Oral Arguments,” 103 Virginia Law Review 1379–496.Google Scholar
Kawakami, Kerry, Dovidio, John F., Moll, Jasper, Hermsen, Sander, & Russin, Abby (2000) “Just Say No (to Stereotyping): Effects of Training in the Negation of Stereotype Associations on Stereotype Activation,” 78 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 871–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kenney, Sally J. (2013) “Wise Latinas, Strategic Minnesotans, and the Feminist Standpoint: The Backlash Against Women Judges,” 36 Thomas Jefferson Law Review 43–82.Google Scholar
Kenney, Sally J. (2014) “Judicial Women,” in, Thomas, Sue, & Wilcox, Clyde, eds., Women and Elective Office: Past, Present, and Future. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
King, Gary, Keohane, Robert O., & Verba, Sidney (1994) Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koch, Jeffrey W. (2000) “Do Citizens Apply Gender Stereotypes to Infer Candidates’ Ideological Orientations?” 62 Journal of Politics 414–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Latu, Ioana M., Mast, Marianne Schmid, & Stewart, Tracie L. (2015) “Gender Biases in (Inter) Action: The Role of Interviewers’ and Applicants’ Implicit and Explicit Stereotypes in Predicting Women's Job Interview Outcomes,” 39 Psychology of Women Quarterly 539–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Frances E. (2008) “Agreeing to Disagree: Agenda Content and Senate Partisanship, 1981-2004,” 33 Legislative Studies Quarterly 199–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Frances E. (2009) Beyond Ideology: Politics, Principles, and Partisanship in the U.S. Senate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lennon, Tiffani (2013) Benchmarking Women's Leadership in the United States. Denver, CO: University of Denver Colorado Women's College. http://womenscollege.du.edu/benchmarking-womens-leadership/ (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
Lott, Bernice (1985) “The Devaluation of Women's Competence,” 41 Journal of Social Issues 43–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, Patricia Yancey, Reynolds, John R., & Keith, Shelley (2002) “Gender Bias and Feminist Consciousness among Judges and Attorneys: A Standpoint Theory Analysis,” 27 Signs 665–701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinek, Wendy L., Kemper, Mark, & Van Winkle, Steven R. (2002) “To Advise and Consent: The Senate and Lower Federal Court Nominations, 1977–1998,” 64 Journal of Politics 337–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, Toni, ed. (1992) Race-ing Justice, En-Gendering Power: Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the Construction of Social Reality. New York: Pantheon.Google Scholar
O'Brien, David M. (2002) Storm Center: The Supreme Court in American Politics. 6th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Owens, Ryan J. (2010) “The Separation of Powers, Judicial Independence, and Strategic Agenda Setting,” 54 American Journal of Political Science 412–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Papke, Leslie E., & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. (1996) “Econometric Methods for Fractional Response Variables with an Application to 401(K) Plan Participation Rates,” 11 Journal of Applied Econometrics 619–32.3.0.CO;2-1>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Philpot, Tasha S., & Walton, Hanes Jr. (2007) “One of Our Own: Black Female Candidates and the Voters Who Support Them,” 51 American Journal of Political Science 49–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinel, Elizabeth C. (1999) “Stigma Consciousness: The Psychological Legacy of Social Stereotypes,” 76 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 114–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Post, Robert, & Siegel, Reva (2006) “Originalism as a Political Practice: The Right's Living Constitution,” 75 Fordham Law Review 545–74.Google Scholar
Quillian, Lincoln (2006) “New Approaches to Understanding Racial Prejudice and Discrimination,” 32 Annual Review of Sociology 299–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Remiche, Adelaide (2015) “When Judging is Power: A Gender Perspective on the French and American Judiciaries,” 3 Journal of Law and Courts 95–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ringhand, Lori A., & Collins, Paul M. Jr. (2011) “May it Please the Senate: An Empirical Analysis of the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings of Supreme Court Nominees, 1939-2009,” 60 American University Law Review 589–641.Google Scholar
Rosette, Ashleigh Shelby, Koval, Christy Zhou, Ma, Anyi, & Livingston, Robert (2016) “Race Matters for Women Leaders: Intersectional Effects on Agentic Deficiencies and Penalties,” 27 The Leadership Quarterly 429–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scherer, Nancy (2005) Scoring Points: Politicians, Activists, and the Lower Federal Court Appointment Process. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Schneider, Monica C., & Bos, Angela L. (2011) “An Exploration of the Content of Stereotypes of Black Politicians,” 32 Political Psychology 205–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A. (1987) “Senate Confirmation of Supreme Court Justices: Partisan and Institutional Politics,” 49 Journal of Politics 998–1015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A. (2016) “Perceived Qualifications and Ideology of Supreme Court Nominees, 1937–2012,” http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/polisci/jsegal/QualTable.pdf (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
Sen, Maya (2014) “How Judicial Qualification Ratings May Disadvantage Minority and Female Candidates,” 2 Journal of Law and Courts 33–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sigelman, Carol K., Lee, Sigelman, Walkosz, Barbara J., & Nitz, Michael (1995) “Black Candidates, White Voters: Understanding Racial Bias in Political Perceptions,” 39 American Journal of Political Science 243–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steigerwalt, Amy (2010) Battle over the Bench: Senators, Interest Groups, and Lower Court Confirmations. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.Google Scholar
Steigerwalt, Amy, Vining, Richard L. Jr., & Striko, Tara W. (2013) “Minority Representation, the Electoral Connection, and the Confirmation Vote of Sonia Sotomayor,” 34 Justice System Journal 189–207.Google Scholar
Szmer, John J., Sarver, Tammy A., & Kaheny, Erin B. (2010) “Have We Come a Long Way, Baby? The Influence of Attorney Gender on Supreme Court Decision Making,” 6 Politics & Gender 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United States Senate. (1991) “Nomination of Judge Clarence Thomas to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States,” https://www.senate.gov/reference/Supreme_Court_Nomination_Hearings.htm (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
United States Senate. (2016a) “Women in the Senate,” https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/women_senators.htm (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
United States Senate. (2016b) “Ethnic Diversity in the Senate,” http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/minority_senators.htm (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
United States Senate. (2016c) “Biographical Directory of the United States Congress,” http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_and_teasers/Biographical_Directory.htm (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
Vining, Richard L. Jr. (2011) “Grassroots Mobilization in the Digital Age: Interest Group Response to Supreme Court Nominees,” 64 Political Research Quarterly 790–802.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, Stephanie Francis (2011) “Female Judicial Candidates Are Held to Different Standards, Sotomayor Tells Students,” ABA Journal, 8 March. http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/female_judicial_candidates_are_held_to_different_standards_sotomayor_tells_/ (accessed 25 June 2018).Google Scholar
Williams, Margaret S. (2008) “Ambition, Gender, and the Judiciary,” 61 Political Research Quarterly 68–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wills, Garry (1995) “Thomas's Confirmation: The True Story,” New York Review of Books, 2 Feb. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/02/02/thomass-confirmation-the-true-story/ accessed 25 June 2018.Google Scholar
Yalof, David A. (2008) “Confirmation Obfuscation: Supreme Court Confirmation Politics in a Conservative Era,” 44 Studies in Law, Politics, and Society 143–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar