In the weeks since I posted on the topic, much of the furor has died down regarding the previous comments made by Sonia Sotomayor concerning the role of gender and racial identity in legal judgment. In fact, just days later, Newt Gingrich (sort of) retracted his previous statement that Sotomayor was a racist. I can only assume that Gingrich's regular subscription to my blog played some role in his (sort of) reversal. But the even more interesting race/gender-related question inspired by Sotomayor's nomination is how her addition to the Court might impact the tendencies of the 9-justice entity. Research in a wide range of fields provides compelling evidence that the demographic composition of a group can affect the way it goes about making decisions... Read More