Ottawa Men's Centre

Peter Roscoe's Research

Gender Bias in Family Law at the

Court of Appeal Ontario 2007

Peter Karl Roscoe

Apr 2006, Revised Sept 2007

Summary of Judicial Data - Overall Discrimination Indexes

D I = % Female Wins - % Male Wins

Rank	Judge	% Female Wins	% Male .Wins	Discrimination . Index	Standard Deviations

1	Charron JA	80.6	12.2	68.5
2	Abella JA	66.7	10.2	56.5
3	Macpherson JA	70.9	14.4	56.5
4	Weiler JA	70.8	14.4	56.4
5	Feldman JA	73.0	17.6	55.4
6	Blair JA	64.0	13.9	50.1
7	Lang JA	63.2	14.7	48.5
8	Goudge JA	67.9	21.0	46.9
9	Moldaver JA	59.7	14.0	45.7
10	Carthy JA	63.5	18.6	44.9
11	Catzman JA	71.4	28.5	42.9
12	Cronk JA	61.3	18.9	42.4
13	Labrosse JA	62.7	20.5	42.2
14	Gilese JA	68.3	27.5	40.8
15	Rosenburg JA	61.0	21.7	39.3
16	Doherty JA	55.7	20.0	35.7
17	Juriasz JA	58.3	23.2	35.1
18	Rouleau JA	51.6	17.1	34.5
19	Sharpe JA	53.0	18.7	34.3
20	Macfarland JA	63.0	28.9	34.1
21	Borins JA	55.4	22.0	33.4
22	O’Connor DCJO	56.1	23.2	32.9
23	McMurtry ( CJO )	56.9	24.4	32.5
24	Armstrong JA	52.3	27.6	24.7
25	Simmons JA	45.8	24.7	21.1
26	Laskin JA	42.2	31.1	11.1


	Median	41.5

	Mean	41.0

	Standard Deviation	12.6

P = 0.41

95% confidence interval for actual Mean: 36.0 thru 46.0

Third Quartile = 48.9, First Quartile = 33.9

Appeal Issue Discrimination Indexes

D I = % Female Wins - % Male Wins

Rank	Judge	% Female Wins	% Male .Wins	Discrimination . Index	Standard Deviations

	Charron JA	80.0	10.7	69.3
1	Abella JA	72.2	8.9	63.3
2	Feldman JA	77.8	23.5	54.3
3	Weiler JA	76.9	23.8	53.1
4	Goudge JA	81.5	29.3	52.2
5	Blair JA	80.0	23.8	56.2
6	Lang JA	64.7	17.5	47.2
7	O’Connor DCJO	64.3	24.1	40.2
8	Labrosse JA	63.6	25.0	38.6
9	Cronk JA	62.5	14.3	38.6
10	Macpherson JA	53.8	16.9	36.9
11	Carthy JA	61.1	25.0	36.1
12	Rosenburg JA	60.0	29.1	30.9
13	Juriansz JA	58.8	28.0	30.1
14	Catzman JA	73.9	44.2	29.7
15	Macfarland JA	62.5	24.2	26.8
16	Gillese JA	73.1	48.0	25.1
17	Moldaver JA	44.1	20.0	24.1
18	Doherty JA	48.1	25.6	22.5
19	Borin JA	52.4	30.3	22.1
20	Rouleau JA	33.3	12.5	20.8
21	Armstrong JA	52.0	33.3	18.7
22	Sharpe JA	39.2	21.4	17.8
23	McMurtry CJO	47.6	30.6	17.0
24	Simmons JA	45.0	34.6	10.4
25	Laskin JA	46.9	37.2	9.7
26

	Median	30.5

	Mean	34.5

	Standard Deviation	16.3

P = 0.56

95% confidence interval for actual Mean: 27.7 thru 40.9

Third Quartile = 48.5, First Quartile = 21.8

Cost Discrimination Indexes

D I = % Female Wins - % Male Wins

Rank	Judge	% Female Wins	% Male .Wins	Discrimination . Index	Standard Deviations

1	Macpherson JA	79.2	11.3	67.9
2	Charron JA	79.5	13.6	67.8
3	Weiler JA	69.6	2.2	67.4
4	Moldaver JA	68.8	8.3	60.5
5	Catzman JA	70.0	10.0	60.0
6	Feldman JA	79.5	11.7	58.8
7	Simmons JA	66.7	10.0	56.7
8	Abella JA	62.7	11.7	51.0
9	Blair JA	65.6	15.6	50.0
10	Goudge JA	60.7	12.5	48.2
11	Gillese JA	63.9	16.7	47.2
12	Carthy JA	61.8	14.7	47.1
13	Rosenburg JA	60.7	14.3	46.4
14	Sharpe JA	61.5	15.4	46.1
15	Cronk JA	58.2	12.7	45.5
16	Labrosse JA	57.9	13.2	44.7
17	McMurtry CJO	59.5	16.2	43.3
18	Borins JA	57.1	14.3	42.8
19	Macfarland JA	63.2	21.0	42.2
20	Rouleau JA	63.2	21.0	42.2
21	Doherty JA	60.5	18.6	41.9
22	Juriasz JA	58.1	19.3	38.8
23	Armstrong JA	52.5	20.0	32.5
24	Simmons JA	45.6	15.2	30.4
25	O’Connor DCJO	51.9	22.2	29.7
26	Laskin JA	40.0	23.1	16.9


	Median	47.1

	Mean	46.3

	Standard Deviation	12.3

P = 0.37

95% confidence interval for actual Mean: 42.2 thru 52.1

Third Quartile = 57.2, First Quartile = 42.1

Overall Discrimination Indexes for Male Vs Female Judges

Male Judges Female Judges

Judge	DI Index	Standard Deviations	Rank	Judge	DI Index	Standard Deviations

Macpherson JA	56.5		1	Charron JA	68.5
Blair JA	50.1		2	Abella JA	56.5
Goudge JA	46.9		3	Weiler JA	56.4
Moldaver JA	45.7		4	Feldman JA	55.4
Carthy JA	44.9		5	Lang JA	48.5
Catzman JA	42.9		6	Cronk JA	42.4
Labrosse JA	42.2		7	Gilese JA	40.8
Rosenburg JA	39.3		8	Macfarland JA	34.1
Doherty JA	35.7		9	Simmons JA	20.8
Juriasz JA	35.1		10
Rouleau JA	34.5		11
Sharpe JA	34.3		12
Borins JA	33.4		13
O’Connor DCJO	32.9		14
McMurtry ( CJO )	32.5		15
Armstrong JA	24.7		16
Laskin JA	11.1		17





Median	35.7			Median	48.5

Mean	37.8			Mean	47.0

Standard Deviation	10.4			Standard Deviation	14.3

95% CI for actual mean: 32.5 thru 43.2 95% CI for actual Mean: 36.1 thru 58.0

3rd Quartile = 45.3, 1st Quartile = 33.2 3rd Quartile = 36.1, 1st Quartile = 58.0

% Wins for Male and Female Judges by Sex of the Appellant

Male Appellants Female Appellants

Judge	% Female Wins	Standard Deviations	Rank	Judge	% Male Wins	Standard Deviations

Charron JA	80.6		1	Laskin JA	31.1
Feldman JA	73.0		2	Macfarland JA	28.9
Catzman JA	71.4		3	Catzman JA	28.5
Macpherson JA	70.9		4	Armstrong JA	27.6
Weiler JA	70.8		5	Gilese JA	27.5
Gilese JA	68.3		6	Simmons JA	24.7
Goudge JA	67.9		7	McMurtry ( CJO )	24.4
Abella JA	66.7		8	Juriasz JA	23.2
Blair JA	64.0		9	O’Connor DCJO	23.2
Carthy JA	63.5		10	Borins JA	22.0
Lang JA	63.2		11	Rosenburg JA	21.7
Macfarland JA	63.0		12	Goudge JA	21.0
Labrosse JA	62.7		13	Labrosse JA	20.5
Cronk JA	61.3		14	Doherty JA	20.0
Rosenburg JA	61.0		15	Cronk JA	18.9
Moldaver JA	59.7		16	Sharpe JA	18.7
Juriasz JA	58.3		17	Carthy JA	18.6
McMurtry ( CJO )	56.9		18	Feldman JA	17.6
O’Connor DCJO	56.1		19	Rouleau JA	17.1
Doherty JA	55.7		20	Lang JA	14.7
Borins JA	55.4		21	Macpherson JA	14.4
Sharpe JA	53.0		22	Weiler JA	14.4
Armstrong JA	52.3		23	Moldaver JA	14.0
Rouleau JA	51.6		24	Blair JA	13.9
Simmons JA	45.8		25	Charron JA	12.2
Laskin JA	42.2		26	Abella JA	10.2


Median	48.5			Median	20.3

Mean	47.0			Mean	20.3

Standard Deviation	8.7			Standard Deviation	5

P = 0.97 P = 0.94

95% CI for actual mean: 57.8 thru 64.9 95% CI for actual Mean: 17.4 thru 31.9

3rd Quartile = 68.0, 1st Quartile = 55.6 3rd Quartile = 40.5, 1st Quartile = 8.7

Win / Loss Rating

Average Wins = ( % Female Wins + % Male Wins ) / 2

Rank	Judge	% Female Wins	% Male Wins	% Average Wins	Standard Deviations

1	Catzman Ja	71.4	28.5	50.0
2	Gillese JA	68.3	27.5	47.9
3	Charron	80.6	12.2	46.4
4	Macfarland JA	63.0	28.9	46.0
5	Feldman JA	73.0	17.6	45.3
6	Goudge JA	67.9	21.0	44.5
7	Macpherson JA	70.9	14.4	42.7
8	Weiler JA	70.8	14.4	42.6
9	McMurtry ( CJO )	56.9	24.4	42.0
10	Labrosse JA	62.7	20.5	41.6
11	Rosenburg JA	61.0	21.7	41.4
12	Carthy JA	63.5	18.6	41.1
13	Juriansz JA	58.3	23.2	40.8
14	Armstrong JA	52.3	27.6	40.0
15	Laskin JA	42.2	31.1	40.0
16	Cronk JA	61.3	18.9	40.0
17	O’Connor DCJO	56.1	23.2	39.7
18	Blair JA	64.0	13.9	39.0
19	Lang JA	63.2	14.7	39.0
20	Borins JA	55.4	22.0	38.7
21	Abella JA	66.7	10.2	38.5
22	Doherty JA	55.7	20.0	37.9
23	Moldaver JA	59.7	14.0	36.9
24	Sharpe JA	53.0	18.7	35.9
25	Simmons JA	45.8	24.7	35.3
26	Rouleau JA	51.6	17.1	34.4


	Median	40.4

	Mean	41.1

	Standard Deviation	3.9

P = 0.59

95% confidence interval for actual Mean:39.5 thru 42.6

Third Quartile = 43.2, First Quartile = 38.7