People view judicial figures previously accused of sexual misconduct as a threat to women’s rights

With the US Supreme Court likely to soon announce its decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, in a new study, Melissa N. Baker and Kayla S. Canelo look at how previous accusations of sexual misconduct toward judges might affect the public’s perception of their ability to rule on issues related to women’s rights. They find that people perceive judges who have been previously accused of sexual misconduct are more of a threat to the rights of women, and that only women felt that such judges would be less likely to rule fairly on women’s rights cases.