GENERAL RESEARCH INTEREST
As a researcher, I pursue projects aimed at untangling a puzzle routinely found in new institutional approaches to judicial politics and public law: who are our judges? When Sonia Sotomayor was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States, her comments in a speech delivered at Berkeley Law School and published in The Berkeley La Raza Law Journal, touched off a national debate about the importance of diversity in America's judicial system and whether or not minorities might make for better judges (during her confirmation hearings Sotomayor said she does not believe any minority group has an advantage in judging). My research seeks to explore connections between judges social backgrounds, identities, and life experiences and how judges conceptualize their roles and their position in the American legal and political systems.
DISSERTATION PROJECT
My dissertation explores the "Sotomayor Question," as I like to call it: Do judges of different backgrounds, with different experiences, think of their job as judges differently than judges with different experiences, and does the public care? My dissertation brings a new dimension to the conceptualization of the judicial role, exploring whether and how judges believe the qualities of compassion, empathy, and respect are important to their functions as judges. I conceptualize the the empathetic orientation as a potential constraint (like a formalistic umpire) on judicial behavior and decision-making, potentially influencing judicial conduct, decisions, and case outcomes. Further, I interview judges in order to explore what factors might motivate and influence how they view their roles as judges and their conceptualizations of the rule of law.
ADDITIONAL INTERESTS
Beyond my dissertation, I have a significant research interest in judicial elections and public evaluations of judicial decisions. In particular, these interests extend to qualifications for judicial office and how the public evaluates the personal and professional backgrounds of potential and incumbent judges, and how the public evaluates the legitimacy of judicial decisions.