![]() Yet to be evenhanded is not the same as being uncaringly formalistic or concerned only with systematic consequences. Judicial officers do, in fact, take an oath to apply the law "without respect to persons.” No one should win or lose in Court because they are rich or poor or black or white. ![]() But what of empathy, the ability to stand in the other person's shoes? President Obama has identified this quality as essential, but does empathy require raising the blindfold to see who is before the Court, and if so, doesn't that in itself subvert impartiality?Įmpathy is an attractive idea, but it requires some careful unpacking. The femininity of the judicial symbol is ironic, since as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has pointed out more than once, it's lonely, gender-ly speaking, on the high bench. ![]() Justice has often been depicted as both female and blindfolded to convey impartiality. ![]()
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