Gavel Grab

Data compiled by The Center for Women in Government & Civil Society at the State University New York-Albany concludes that the percentage of women on state courts has increased, but only slightly.

Women currently occupy 27.5 percent of state court judgeships compared with 26.8 percent in 2011, The National Law Journal reported. Overall, women occupy 27.1 percent of state and federal judgeships, a 0.5 increase from 2011.

Dina Refki, the center’s director said, “This is both good news and bad news. The good news is that there is movement, at least at the state level. But the bad news is that the rate of change is so slow — and, in the case of the federal benches, we are experiencing a setback.”

Assigning states into tiers, the center found that thirteen states had fewer than 19 percent of women on the state and federal bench; twenty states with 20 to 29 percent; and 13 states and D.C. had around 30 percent of women on the bench.

Refki said, “If women are graduating from law schools at the same rate as men, and if there is a pool of qualified women who are ready to serve, there is no explanation for the unbalanced representation on the bench.”

To learn more about Justice at Stake’s work on diversity, visit our website. To read more about judicial diversity in the news see Gavel Grab.