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48 Judges J. 12 (2009)
A Bench that Looks Like America - Diversity among Appointed State Court Judges

handle is hein.journals/judgej48 and id is 102 raw text is: A Bench That Looks Like America DIVERSITY AMONG APPOINTED STATE COURT JUDGES By Ciara Torres-Spelliscy he United States is more diverse than ever, but its state judges are not. While we recognize that citizens are entitled to a jury of their peers who will be drawn from a pool that reflects the surrounding community, Americans who enter the courtroom often face a predictable presence on the bench: a white male. This is the case despite increasing diversity within law school populations over the past 20 years and within state bars across the country. Sotomayor and Judicial Diversity The Supreme Court nomination and confirmation of Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor has highlighted the issue of diversity on the bench. Of 110 Supreme Court Justices in the Court's history since 1789, 106 have been white men. JusticeSotomayor is just the third person of color and the third woman on the Court. Her nomination has provided the opportunity for a national conversa- > tion about judicial diversity. As national attention focused on the diversity of the highest federal court, the homogenous make-up of state courts has gone largely unnoticed. According to the latest data available from the American Judicature Society, 24 state supreme courts are all white and two are all male. The homogeneity of these state courts was produced by both judicial elections and nominations. No matter how we choose our state judges, we need to do better at diversifying the bench. Brief Overview of the Nomination Process In the District of Columbia and 24 states, judges are appointed using nominating commissions. In contrast to the nomina- tion process for the federal bench where the president has unfettered choice of his judicial nominees but needs advice and consent of the Senate, there are five basic steps in the state judicial appointive pro- cess: (1) advertising the judicial vacancy; (2) receiving applications from interested candidates; (3) vetting and interviewing prospective candidates; (4) formulating a short list of recommended names for the governor; and (5) nomination by the governor of a person from the list to fill the judicial vacancy. Not every state follows this exact nom- ination formula. Appointive systems in 16 states use the Missouri Plan and require appointed judges to stand for a retention election. In a retention election, a judge does not run against an opponent. Rather, the only question on the ballot in a reten- tion election is whether the judge will keep his or her seat. The Brennan Center Study of Nominations The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School studied how successful those states with appointed judiciaries are at recruiting and appointing women and racial minorities. Our goal was to provide an accu- rate snapshot of state courts and a roadmap of how to improve judicial diversity. oJudges' Journal - Vol. 48 No. 3

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