This link has been bookmarked by 1 people . It was first bookmarked on 03 Oct 2008, by Jim Milles.
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03 Oct 08
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The preparation of Gay Rights and American Law includes a valuable experience in the conduct of empirical research and the reactions of law professors that is described in the book. Much of the information necessary for coding judges' backgrounds is readily available from public sources, but Pinello was unable to identify the religious affiliation for some of the judges in his database. He sent a survey to judges to ascertain information about their background, including their religious affiliations, and received answers from around two-thirds of the judges, a very good return rate for such research (p. 214)
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In order to ascertain information on religious affiliation for other judges, he posted an email message to a listserve for law professors (LAWPROF), asking members if they could give him this information. His request produced a measure of criticism, with law professors responding that this was "a private matter," or "none of your business" (pp. 156-57). There was an air of hostility in the reaction by law professors. Although Pinello had taken precautions to protect the privacy of individual judges and there was no reason to believe that his inquiry invaded reasonable expectations of privacy, the privacy concern was repeatedly raised. Perhaps the expressed privacy concerns were in fact masking a broader concern about the research.
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