Gender Differentials in the Content of Judicial Opinions

Journal article

Kaleigh Ruiz
Arizona State Law Journal, vol. 56(4), 2025, pp. 1825-1919

Cite

APA Click to copy
Ruiz, K. (2025). Gender Differentials in the Content of Judicial Opinions. Arizona State Law Journal, 56(4), 1825–1919.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Ruiz, Kaleigh. “Gender Differentials in the Content of Judicial Opinions.” Arizona State Law Journal 56, no. 4 (2025): 1825–1919.

MLA Click to copy
Ruiz, Kaleigh. “Gender Differentials in the Content of Judicial Opinions.” Arizona State Law Journal, vol. 56, no. 4, 2025, pp. 1825–919.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{kaleigh2025a,
  title = {Gender Differentials in the Content of Judicial Opinions},
  year = {2025},
  issue = {4},
  journal = {Arizona State Law Journal},
  pages = {1825-1919},
  volume = {56},
  author = {Ruiz, Kaleigh}
}

This Article investigates whether there are gender differences in the substance of judicial opinions on the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Using a novel dataset of nearly 9,000 cases spanning 23 years, I find that women judges author opinions that are longer and more citation rich. I propose that this is indicative of heightened diligence by women judges at the opinion-writing stage of the judicial decision-making process.

Versions of this Article were presented at the 2024 annual meetings for MPSA in April and LSA in June. Poster presentations for this Article were presented at the 2024 annual meetings for SoWEPS in March and VIM in May.