Thirty Years Later: Recalling the Gender Bias Report and Asking “What's Next?” in the Legal Profession

Hon. Pamela J. White

The May 1989 Report of the Special Joint Committee on Gender Bias in the Courts reflected a nationwide trend to identify “the profound need for judicial reform to eliminate gender bias in our courts.” Maryland was part of an early group of seventeen states that established gender bias task forces to collect data, compile reports, and propound recommendations for implementation. Many recommendations among the dozens offered in the 1989 Report have been addressed by organized bar groups and attorneys in practice, by the Court of Appeals and its Rules Committee, by law schools and through judicial education, in the General Assembly and Executive Orders. Over the decades, female litigants, attorneys, and witnesses have moved steadily toward securing equal access to court systems without presumptive gender bias or unfairness borne of prejudice. But such progress has been painstaking; lessons learned from educational initiatives and evolving professional expectations have not ended the tabloid headlines and social media rants about misbehaving judges and lawyers for their gender biased misconduct without apparent disciplinary consequence.

More than thirty years later, sexism and racism still affect the quality and character of justice in Maryland. Continuing concerns for gender bias in the legal profession and gender-related obstacles to equal access to justice require closer attention to violations of judicial and attorney ethics rules prohibiting discrimination. Successive generations of lawyers now bear responsibility to take the next steps to eliminate gender bias in our courts and achieve equality under the law. The 1989 Report and pioneering Special Joint Committee efforts provided a solid foundation for those next steps.

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