Female SCOTUS Justices Are Interrupted More Than Men

In 2015, the three female justices on the U.S. Supreme Court were interrupted far more often than the men, and almost exclusively by, their male counterparts, according to a new study. About 66 percent of all interruptions were directed at the three sitting female justices on the Court, the study found. That compares to 2002, where the two then-sitting female justices were interrupted 46 percent of the time, and 1990, when Sandra Day O’Connor, the only female justice, was the target of 35.7 percent of all inter-justice interruptions. “As more women join the court, the reaction of the male justices and the male advocates has been to increase their interruptions of the female justices,” wrote the authors – Northwestern Pritzker School of Law professor Tonja Jacobi and Northwestern JD candidate Dylan Schweers – in “Justice, Interrupted: The Effect of Gender, Ideology and Seniority at Supreme Court Oral Arguments.” They also note that the male justices are responsible for the lion’s share of the interruptions, about 85 percent, far more than their 78 percent representation on the court. Though some of the interrupting can be attributed to seniority – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is interrupted less than her more junior counterparts, Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor – gender was found to be about 30 times more influential.