Page 18 - Briefcase Volume 37 Number 1

U.S. District Court Judge Vanessa Gilmore, a 1981 graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, takes questions from law students
during a Sondock Jurist-in-Residence lecture.

JUDGE VANESSA GILMORE ’81 SAYS THAT COURTS MUST

CONTINUE TO CONFRONT IMPLICIT BIAS

Members of the judiciary should be held accountable for rulings that are implicitly biased, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore of the Southern
District of Texas said in November during the Justice Ruby Kless Sondock Jurist-in-Residence and Lectureship in Legal Ethics program at the
University of Houston Law Center.
Gilmore, a 1981 graduate of the Law Center, said while implicit bias is primarily a concern in criminal law cases, it is also present in other areas of
law as well.
“As officers of the court we all have an obligation to look at what our own implicit biases are. We have to have some checks and balances in place for
judges,” Gilmore said. “If you think a judge is practicing implicit or unconscious bias, or is flat out biased and not trying to hide it, the public needs to
call them on it. You can’t just let it go. It won’t get better unless people speak up and make judges take responsibility.”
Implicit bias can be defined as stereotypes, attitudes or preferences that people might consciously reject, but may express without conscious
awareness. Gilmore said that while it can be a natural human reaction to make assumptions about a case, judges must work hard to remain objective
and to follow the precedent of the law.
“As judges we often have a spotlight on us,” Gilmore said. “Whenever we’re assigned a high-profile case, the first thing the public seems to be most
interested in is who appointed us, as if it’s the definitive litmus test on how we’re going to rule on an issue. The assumption being that because of our
background or who we were appointed by will determine that we’re going to pre-judge certain issues in cases. Even though I think as judges we push
back against that characterization, the reality is that all of us pre-judge things based on our background and life experiences. The problem comes
when we let our own implicit biases affect how we apply the law.”

18 Briefcase 2018