Supreme Court justices interrupt female attorneys more often than men

Supreme Court justices are far more likely to interrupt a female attorney during oral arguments than a male attorney, according to a new study analyzing four decades of court transcripts.

By the numbers: A female attorney in conversation with Chief Justice John Roberts can expect to get interrupted 2.1 times more often than her male counterpart.

• Most justices in the study were more likely to interrupt women; the discrepancy was especially pronounced among conservative-leaning justices.

The big picture: Special oral argument rules put in place during the pandemic made the interruption rate more equitable, for a while. However, the bias quickly bounced back once those restrictions eased, compounding the barriers that women already face in the legal profession.

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