Exclusive: US Superior Judge Who Went Viral For ‘Not Looking The Part’ Speaks Out On Implicit Bias

Black, LGBTQ+ with a tattoo sleeve. Judge Shannon Frison, who served as a judge advocate in the United States Marine Corps back in 1994 before she was appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court in 2013 spoke to Awallprintss on her journey to the top, implicit bias and even criticism from her own community for working in the sector.

Having gone viral for a picture showing off her tattoo sleeve, Judge Shannon Frison has left thousands of people on the internet evaluating their own implicit bias. Some have responded to the picture outraged while most have applauded her for remaining 'authentic.'

Seated at her desk wearing her all black attire, we spoke with Judge Frison - who currently oversees criminal justice cases all across Massachusetts, in its Superior Court, for an in-depth conversation.

She was first appointed to Boston’s Municipal Court in 2009 by Governor Deval Patrick and confirmed to the Superior Court in 2013. No Black judge has been appointed to the high court since.

From a young age, Judge Frison, now in her 50s, had identified law as her main area of interest and with dozens of accolades behind her, from holding a Major in the US Marine Corps to a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Centre, one would expect her journey to the top to be smooth sailing - however, it was anything but.

In fact, she has faced, like most minorities, discrimination and implicit bias and even criticism from her own community.

“The paths to the bench are varied and there's no one path. But I think particularly for Black, female, LGBTQ jurists, there are always additional challenges associated with coming onto the bench,” Judge Frison said when asked about her experience navigating an industry that lacks diversity.

She said it was important “being able to bring your authenticity to the job, I think, benefits us all.

“I do have tattoos, I do have a full sleeve, I do have tattoos on my neck. And that in no way affects my jurisprudence. In no way affects my skills. In no way affects my authority. And should not for me, or anyone coming behind me.

"I took it [the viral picture] to say to people coming behind me: ‘Do whatever you want, no matter how you're born, how you're adorned, and what your experiences are, there is room for all of it.’”

State data from 2019 shows of the 374 trial court justices in the system, 39 are people of color. This lack of diversity of lawyers and jurists stems from implicit bias, attitudes towards people or associate stereotypes with them without our conscious knowledge, according to experts that have heavily studied the area.

These are all issues that Judge Frison doesn't shy away from speaking about. In an Instagram post just hours before our interview she revealed that during the summer after her second year of law school at the MEPS in Boston, she was physically examined for fitness for Marines duty.

She claims that the doctor questioned whether she had a "problem with homosexuality?” Of course, she had no “problem” with it, she was and still is part of the community herself. But she says that was the way the services ensured that LGBTQ people did not serve.

Judge Frison ended the caption with "well, I served anyway."

This same determination and ability to remain confident in who she is has remained throughout her career. But the road hasn't been easy.

Since the death of George Floyd and the rise of public awareness on the issues of bias, it has been difficult for Judge Frison “to actually be a part of a system that is being challenged for some of its processes, traditions and ways of operating.”

She's also received criticism from her own community, who at times have questioned why she would work in the field. Their critique, which she understands, comes because of the long and complicated history the Black community has had with the criminal justice system and the police force.

Till this day - Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons across the country at nearly five times the rate of whites, and Latinx people are 1.3 times as likely to be incarcerated than non-Latinx whites, according to the Color of Justice report.

Its clear why the Black community does not trust the system.

But Judge Frison says that “being part of some of the underrepresented communities and being on the bench, I think, allows me to have a certain voice of credibility when I talk about issues of bias. And when I talk about the effects that those issues have on underrepresented people.”

She also believes that a lack of access to the proper education and resources is also another factor for the lack of diversity on the bench. “Resources and the distribution of resources is a big part of that.

“We see that with everything. We see that with education, and those opportunities, we see that with law, we see that with the pandemic, the availability of resources affects everything that we do.”

Asked how she remains who she is and does not waver even in the midst of discrimination and bias, she said she always turns back to when she first went on the bench at the Boston Municipal Court and she had a significant interaction with her predecessor, Chief Justice Charles Johnson.

"He told me: ‘You know, you're going on the bench now. You can't be Charles Johnson. You can't be David Weingarten. You have to be Shannon Frison on the bench.’”

These words of encouragement stayed with Judge Frison because she thinks "as a new judge, you do look for a judge to be like...[But] he basically said: you've got to do your own thing.”

Doing your own thing is easier said than done, especially when you are a minority on the bench. Yet, “that is my message,” she added.

“That is my message to new lawyers…to people coming onto the bench, who feel underrepresented, like they can't be themselves because they're a minority, or…they can't be themselves because they may dress differently, or have tattoos.”