( CNN ) -- Civil rights groups filed a complaint this week against a federal judge in Houston after she allegedly said during a lecture that some minorities are prone to violence . Judge Edith Jones , who serves on the 5th U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals and was a Bush-era Supreme Court frontrunner , allegedly made the comment while speaking on the death penalty to The Federalist Society at the University of Pennsylvania in February . The Federalist Society describes itself on its website as `` a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of legal order . '' In her remarks , Jones also is alleged to have said race plays no role in the administration of the death penalty , but certain ethnic groups commit certain types of crimes more often than others . Civil rights groups , including the J.L . Turner Legal Association , say Jones ' comments reveal a strong ethnic bias . They are pushing for an investigation that could lead to her removal from the bench . The J.L . Turner Legal Association is an African-American bar association in Dallas . Its president , Mandy Price , told CNN that some attendees were shocked at what they heard and later complained . `` The reaction in the room when she made these remarks was one of shock , surprise , and offense , '' according to one account that the legal association collected from some of the attendees . The Federalist Society itself , however , called the allegations `` frivolous accusations . '' ACLU : Blacks busted for marijuana at much higher rates than whites . According to the some of the accounts in the complaint , the judge said , `` Racial groups like African- Americans and Hispanics are predisposed to crime . '' They are `` 'prone to commit acts of violence , '' she said , according to the complaint . When challenges to her comments arose , she allegedly countered them by saying that `` blacks and Hispanics '' outnumber `` Anglos '' on death row . Price says such comments reveal strong predispositions sitting judges should not harbor . `` We expect that they 're going to be fair , impartial , not that they have predetermined their case , '' she said . A representative from the court , which is headquartered in New Orleans , declined to comment to CNN , and said Jones also is `` not making any comment regarding the matter . '' Jones was on President George W. Bush 's short list for the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 , though legal observers remarked at the time that her reputation has a staunch conservative -- firmly upholding the death penalty and vocally critical of the Roe v. Wade decision , among other issues -- hurt her odds . `` The decision for which Judge Jones is really best known is her opinion saying , 'While I 'm a lower court judge , I will apply Roe v. Wade , but I think it was wrongly decided and should be overruled , ' '' Supreme Court expert Tom Goldstein told CNN . `` That really typifies her role as a lower court judge but signals what she would do if she became a Supreme Court justice . '' Read more identity news on CNN 's In America blog .
Civil rights group : Judge said certain races are prone to crime and violence . Judge Edith Jones sits on the 5th Circuit Appeals Court . In a lecture , she allegedly said race did not influence the application of the death penalty . Years ago , Jones was made Bush 's short list for Supreme Court contenders .