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Federal court demographics changing to better reflect society: report

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The demographics of the federal judiciary have been changing since the 1950s with an increase in the appointment of women and minorities and a decrease in the appointment of private lawyers, according to a new report released by the Brookings Institution. As of early August 2009, 70 percent of federal judges were white men, 15 percent were white women, 10 percent were minority (African-American and Hispanic) males, and 3 percent were minority females. According to the report, recent appointees have included proportionately fewer white males and fewer private practitioners. The trend has been toward appointing district judges from previously sitting judges and then appointing circuit court judges from district judges. The report concludes: Most would agree with the modest proposition that, all things being equal, the federal judiciary should look more or less like the population it serves as to gender, race, and ethnicity - or at least look more or less like the realistic pool of potential judges. Over the last thirty years, the face of the judiciary has changed, although it hardly mirrors the general population and probably not the applicant pool. And it shows different faces in different parts of the country. In any event, there's little reason to doubt the changes will continue, regardless of the party in the White House.Whether the change in district judges' vocational background will or should continue is a more difficult question. For one thing, as an empirical matter, there is scant evidence on whether or not they judge differently.The report cites the recent appointment of US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as an example of the changing trends. Sotomayor was sworn in earlier this month after debate by the US Senate, much of which focused on her infamous "wise Latina" remark. Through the confirmation hearings, Sotomayor maintained that she decides cases based only on precedent, saying that she does "not believe that any ethnic, racial, or gender group has an advantage in sound judgment."

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 18, 2009 (boomark / email).