NCJ Number
138529
Journal
Trial Volume: 28 Issue: 8 Dated: (August 1992) Pages: 18-24
Date Published
1992
Length
7 pages
Annotation
These six articles examine recent trends and the current status of women in the legal profession, emphasizing that, despite progress, female attorneys still experience sex discrimination and that jurors in rape trials are often influenced by sex role stereotypes.
Abstract
A lawyer describes how her pregnancy prevented her from receiving financial aid or interviewing for jobs 25 years ago. Another woman who graduated from law school 30 years ago describes her difficulty in securing a job and the greatly improved opportunities for her daughter, who is also a lawyer. A male lawyer comments that men do not consciously try to exclude women from leadership in bar groups, including the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), but most men do not make active enough efforts to bring about positive changes. He recommends further efforts to involve women and minorities actively in ATLA. Additional articles present specific techniques for lawyers to use to counter sex discrimination among judges and attorneys and tell how a lawyer who experienced discrimination from both judges and attorneys in a small town established and built her own successful law practice in a city. Another article presents results of research indicating that improved voir dire in rape cases is crucial to avoid having jurors who are influenced by sex role stereotypes and therefore reluctant to convict in cases in which the victim and assailant were acquainted or in which the victim did not conform to sex role stereotypes. Appended texts of two judicial decisions stating views about female sex roles