Political scientists have consistently found evidence that judicial independence is positively associated with human rights protections. However, relatively few studies have sought to explain how independence affects the rights of racial and ethnic minority groups in particular. This paper bridges this gap and explores court independence in the context of ethnic minorities. Using recent measures of de facto judicial independence and discrimination data from the All Minorities at Risk (AMAR) dataset, this study employs multiple regression models to test the relationship between independence and ethnic discrimination. The results demonstrate a strong, negative relationship between the two concepts, suggesting that court independence is an effective barrier to violations of rights for minority groups.