Michigan County Circuit Court Judge Denise Langford Morris, who handled about 55 felony trials as a county circuit prosecutor, said Tuesday that women in criminal justice are subject to stereotypes like being emotional and not being able to handle tough cases.
"[Court participants] would give me the look … like maybe I will be emotional or break down, and maybe not be able to handle the tough, gruesome murder," Judge Morris said.
The American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division hosted the webinar titled Women of Criminal Justice: Why Do They Leave? about challenges women face in criminal justice careers and how they have overcome those obstacles. The session was part of its 2021 virtual spring conference.
The other speakers were University of New Mexico School of Law professor Maryam Ahranjani, former Kansas chief deputy district attorney Kim Parker, Kansas District Court Judge Rachel L. Pickering and University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law professor Sarah Redfield. The moderator was Bianca Brown, an attorney for Cook County State's Attorney Office in Chicago, Illinois.
The panelists said sexism prevails in courtrooms. Ahranjani said a male judge once told one of her female students that she needed to smile more in the courtroom.
"She was told by a male judge, 'You should smile more. I'm not listening to what you're saying because you're not smiling,'" Ahranjani said.
To overcome sexism in courtrooms, women attorneys need to be prepared and act like authority figures, according to the panelists.
Judge Pickering said that when she was a public defender, she would establish herself as an authority to her clients in jails by standing with her feet apart and arms crossed.
"That defendant, female or male, needed to know that, as a female defense attorney, we were all business, and I was ready to work on their case," Judge Pickering said.
Parker added that women in criminal justice must establish themselves as authorities outside courtrooms as well to overcome sexism in their own offices.
"If you know yourself, and you understand yourself, and you are willing to speak to those truths, then you will have established some level of authority in your career that will serve you well," she said.
Morris said the young women attorneys whom she mentors find it difficult to act tough in courtrooms and their workplaces because they believe doing to would give them a reputation of being "hard as nails" and harm their dating lives.
"There is a balance involved when you are a younger woman trying to find fulfillment in career and personal life," Morris said. Women should prioritize their personal needs along with their professional aspirations, she added.
The panelists agreed that creating a work-life balance is also a challenge when pursuing a career in criminal justice. Judge Pickering said she maintains a work-life balance by keeping her personal relationships stable.
"I can't have drama in my personal life because I have drama on the cases that I am reading," she said.
--Editing by Peter Rozovsky.
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