cover image Black Judges on Justic -Op/111

Black Judges on Justic -Op/111

Linn Washington. New Press, $22.95 (265pp) ISBN 978-1-56584-104-8

Fourteen black judges reflect on work and philosophy in interviews with Washington, executive editor of the Philadelphia Tribune and a former assistant to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. While the book's format leads to some overlap, the interviews are often candid and thoughtful. Fred Banks, of the Mississippi Supreme Court, notes that black judges bring to the system both legitimacy and the perspective of their socialization. While most of the comments on creative sentencing and the continuing impact of discrimination are unsurprising, some are more pointed. New York federal judge Henry Bramwell urges a stronger black work ethic and Joseph Brown Jr., criminal court judge of Shelby County (Memphis, Tenn.), laments the passing of men's ``absolute control over the household.'' Retired federal appeals court judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. observes that law students are rarely taught the U.S. Supreme Court's ugly early cases involving blacks, but firebrand New York City trial court judge Bruce Wright ups the ante by arguing that all judges should pass tests in black history. (Jan.)