Examining decisionmaking and improper bias is an important task for state and federal courts.

Cooperative federal-state court programs on these topics can raise awareness of decisionmaking, bias, stigma, and discrimination, and provide strategies to identify and help reduce the effects of bias across the federal and state courts. Collaborations may include research efforts — examining how biases affect the judiciary or assessing the current state of the science — or educational programming that uses evidence-based methods to educate judicial employees, as well as members of the bar and community.  Cooperative efforts also have been shown to reduce resource burdens by minimizing the need for duplicative efforts. As noted by one judge after the first regional-state federal conference, federal and state judges, ”are all in the same boat and [have] more in common than differences; we can and should cooperate in achieving common goals and in defending [and] preserving the judicial system.”

Many state courts offer bias-reduction programs, including on what is sometimes called implicit bias or implicit preferences. The National Center for State Courts continues to examine these programs and publish its own research. These efforts often address how different biases interact and can become compounded and experienced differently by individuals. For example, research finds that African American men and women experience discrimination differently and might face further biases due to factors beyond race and gender (e.g., their religion, sexual orientation, ability status, or age).

Separately, the Federal Judicial Center and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts also coordinate programs to examine "thinking about thinking" and decision making processes. Despite these efforts, in a 2018 American Bar Association survey of more than 2,000 attorneys, respondents expressed that explicit prejudice and implicit bias persist in the legal community.

The pages below provide additional information on: 

What Is Bias and How Is It Measured?

Effectiveness of Implicit Bias Trainings

Some references used to develop these pages are provided here. 

For more information on these topics, or to share examples of successful programs seeking to reduce bias, email fedstate@fjc.gov .