Credibility, Implicit Bias, and Discretion in Decision-Making (Presented by the Federal Bar Association Professional Development Committee and Judiciary Division)

Prof. Susan Bandes, Professor | DePaul Law School and the University of Miami Law School

Susan A. Bandes is a scholar in the areas of criminal procedure, federal courts, and civil rights, and a pioneer in the interdisciplinary study of the role of emotion in law. She is a 1976 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. Her legal career began at the Illinois Office of the State Appellate Defender. In 1980, she became staff counsel for the Illinois A.C.L.U., where she litigated a broad spectrum of civil rights cases and helped draft and secure passage of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. She joined the DePaul faculty in 1984, was named the Centennial Professor of Law in 2012, and the Centennial Professor of Law Emeritus in 2017. She has written more than 70 articles, which appear in the Yale, Stanford, University of Chicago, Michigan and Southern California law reviews, as well as interdisciplinary journals like Law and Social Inquiry, the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, and the Law and Society Review. Her book The Passions of Law was published by NYU Press in 2000. She is a member of the American Law Institute, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and the founder of the Law and Society Association’s Collaborative Research Network on Law and Emotion.

Hon. Judith Levy, United States District Judge | United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Judith E. Levy is a United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. She was nominated for the position by President Barack Obama and the U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination on March 12, 2014. She previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan since 2000, and she was the Civil Rights Unit Chief for the last three years. Prior to that role, she was a trial attorney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Detroit. From 1996-1999, she served as a law clerk for Judge Bernard A. Friedman, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. Judge Levy taught seminars at the University of Michigan Law School from 2002 through 2019.

Lory D. Rosenberg, Founder | IDEAS Consultation and Coaching

Lory D. Rosenberg, founder of IDEAS Consultation and Coaching, is a sought-after immigration lawyer, legal mentor and certified life coach. Lory provides cutting-edge legal analysis and strategies to resolve complex cases and appeals, and works with attorneys to manage business, personal and financial blocks, stress, and mindset challenges, so they can achieve their vision of making a difference. A national speaker and trainer, Ms. Rosenberg previously served as an appellate judge on the Board of Immigration Appeals, and is co-author of Immigration Law and Crimes. She was an adjunct professor at American University, Washington College of Law, Director of the NLADA Defending Immigrants Partnership, Director of the AIC Legal Action Center, and founder of the Centro Presente Central American asylum seekers’ legal programs. She previously participated in the Association of Refugee Law Judges, and presently is active in the former IJ and BIA Judges Roundtable. Lory formerly served as a member of the Board of the Federal Bar Association Immigration Law Section, was on the Board of The National Immigration Project. She was elected 3 times to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Board of Governors, and is the recipient of its Arthur Helton Human Rights Award, and the Edith Lowenstein Award for advancing the practice of immigration law.

Beth Persky, Immigration & Nationality Lawyer | Law Offices of Beth S. Persky

Beth Persky has practiced immigration law since 1992. She is a past chair of the FBA’s International Law Section and chairs the ECOSOC Committee. Beth recently attended the UN Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York on behalf of the FBA. Beth is a Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law with the California Board of Legal Specialization. She is admitted to practice before the Ninth Circuit and the Central District of California. Beth moved to Atlanta during the pandemic. Her practice focuses on sports immigration, and she also writes briefs for asylum cases at the trial and appellate level.

I. Exploration of how World Views Influence Credibility Determinations- Professor Susan Bandes | 2:00pm – 2:20pm

II. Addressing how Adjudicators Address Issues of Credibility and Discretion in Adjudications- Former Board of Immigration Appeals judge Lory Rosenberg | 2:20pm – 2:35pm

III. How District Judges make many Credibility Determinations with very Little Information or Exposure to the Individual, Factors affecting Bond and Sentencing decisions, and How an Implicit Bias Jury Instruction can Assist in Voir Dire and in Addressing Potential Jury Bias- District Court Judge Judith Levy | 2:35pm – 2:50pm

IV. Q&A | 2:50pm – 2:55pm

V. Conclusion | 2:55pm – 3:00pm