Citation

McCall M. Am. Polit. Res. 2008; 36(2): 264-296.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1532673X07307969

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The importance of judge gender as a factor in judicial votes continues to attract much scholarly attention. I contribute to the debate on the influence of judge gender by examining the voting behavior of male and female state supreme court justices in three areas of criminal justice. I find that female justices, controlling for institutional, political, and legal constraints, are more likely than are their male counterparts to rule for the criminal defendant and in a broader array of cases than commonly thought. I conclude that judge gender is a significant factor in the outcome of judicial decisions and that the number of women on the courts is a factor in judicial decision making.