Diversity is an essential component of a fair judiciary. Bringing a range of experiences and perspectives to bear allows judges to make better informed decisions and increases public confidence in their rulings. Unfortunately, neither state nor federal courts currently reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.
Below are select resources from the Brennan Center and beyond that provide annual snapshots of the racial, ethnic, gender, and professional diversity on state supreme courts; identify best practices for promoting diversity on the bench; discuss research relating to judicial diversity; and analyze current obstacles to achieving a diverse bench.
Judicial Diversity Data
Data on the current composition of the judiciary is crucial to understanding the scope of the problem, proposing effective solutions, and evaluating the success of reform measures. While the Federal Judicial Center maintains a database of gender, race, and ethnicity information for the federal courts, states do not systematically collect or release this data for state courts. Below are links to data on diversity on the federal courts, as well as the limited publicly available resources for diversity data from state courts and a report recommending ways to increase the availability of such data.
- Available Data – Federal Courts
- Federal Judicial Center
- Judicial Selection Snapshot, Alliance for Justice
- Available Data – State Courts
- Diversity on State Supreme Court Series Landing Page – Annual Updates, Brennan Center for Justice
- State Supreme Court Diversity, Laila Robbins and Alicia Bannon, Brennan Center for Justice (July 2019)
- Imbalanced Justice: Professional Diversity of the Connecticut Judicial Bench, People’s Parity Project (April 2022)
- State Justices Database, State Law Research Initiative
- National Database on Judicial Diversity in State Courts, American Bar Association
- National Association of Women Judges: Statistics, National Association of Women Judges
- State Court Organization (see “Judge Demographics” section), National Center for State Courts
- The Faces of Justice – Hispanic Justices, Alliance for Justice (October 2025)
- The Faces of Justice – Black State Supreme Court Justices, Alliance for Justice (June 2025)
- The Faces of Justice – LGBTQ+ State Supreme Court Justices, Alliance for Justice (June 2025)
- The Faces of Justice – AAPI State Supreme Court Judges, Alliance for Justice (May 2024)
- The Gavel Gap, Tracey E. George and Albert H. Yoon, American Constitution Society (2016)
- Data Collection Best Practices
- Diversity Counts, Yuvraj Joshi, Lambda Legal and American Constitution Society (June 2017)
Promoting Judicial Diversity
Diversity on courts reaps important benefits. By focusing on these benefits, the values diversity furthers, and the concrete steps necessary to strengthen our systems of selection and build pathways for future candidates, we can promote diversity on both our state and federal courts. The following works by both academics and advocates highlight the benefits of diversity and the steps jurisdictions can take to prioritize it.
How to Promote Judicial Diversity
- Building a Diverse Bench: Selecting Federal Magistrate and Bankruptcy Judges, Kate Berry, Brennan Center for Justice and American Bar Association Judicial Division (August 2017)
- Building a Diverse Bench: A Guide for Judicial Nominating Commissioners, Kate Berry, Brennan Center for Justice (June 2016)
- Improving Judicial Diversity, Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Monique Chase, Emma Greenman, and Susan M. Liss, Brennan Center for Justice (March 2010)
- New Findings Highlight Lack of Diversity on State Supreme Courts, Chihiro Isozaki and Zoe Merriman, State Court Report (May 2024)
- Addressing Bias Among Judges, Mary Smith, Hon. Michael B. Hyman, Sarah E. Redfield, State Court Report (September 2023)
- How to Create Courts That Reflect the Diversity of the Communities They Serve, Pew Research Fact Sheet (January 2024)
- The Role of Judges in Eliminating Implicit Bias and Discrimination, for Diversity and Inclusion in New York State Courts: A Judicial Dilemma, Ari Niki-Tobi, International Journal for Court Administration (November 2022)
- Building a Diverse Court: A Guide to Recruitment and Retention, Sheryl J. Willert, Washington State Minority and Justice Commission (June 2010)
Improving Diversity on the State Courts: A Report from the Bench, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Justice at Stake, and the Center for Justice, Law and Society at George Mason University (2009)
Why Diversity Matters
- Why We Should Care About Diversity on the Bench, Alicia Bannon, State Court Report (December 2025)
- We Need More Public Defenders on the Bench, Kyle C. Barry, State Court Report (November 2025)
- Why Federal Courts Matter to the LGBT Community, Lambda Legal (June 2012)
- Judicial Diversity, Sherrilyn A. Ifill, Green Bag (2009)
- The Judiciary, Diversity, and Justice for All, Edward M. Chen, California Law Review (2003)
- Race and the Judiciary, Harry T. Edwards, Yale Law & Policy Review (2002)
- Racial Diversity on the Bench: Beyond Role Models and Public Confidence, Sherrilyn A. Ifill, Washington and Lee Law Review (2000)
Diversity and Judicial Selection
Judicial selection systems vary widely in the state and federal courts, so it is important to understand how different structures may impact the composition of the judiciary. Shedding light on how judicial selection functions in practice helps illuminate the obstacles to increasing judicial diversity and identify policy solutions.
- Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map, Brennan Center for Justice
- How Judicial Elections Impact Criminal Cases, Kate Berry, Brennan Center for Justice (December 2015)
- How Are State Judges Selected?, Zoe Merriman and Alicia Bannon, State Court Report (April 2026)
- State Supreme Courts Are Overwhelmingly White and Male, Laila Robbins, Brennan Center for Justice (November 2018)
- Two Women of Color Won State Supreme Court Races — and Sadly, That’s Progress, Alicia Bannon and Laila Robbins, Brennan Center for Justice (November 2018)
- Judicial Merit Selection: Beliefs about Fairness and the Undermining of Gender Diversity on the Bench, Nancy B. Arrington, Political Research Quarterly (December 2021)
- Picking Judges: How Judicial-Selection Methods Affect Diversity in State Appellate Courts, Diane M. Johnson, Judicature (2017)
- Justice Out of Balance: How the Election of Judges and the Stunning Lack of Diversity on State Courts Threaten LGBT Rights, Eric Lesh, Lambda Legal (September 2016)
- Examining Diversity on State Courts: How Does the Judicial Selection Environment Advance––and Inhibit––Judicial Diversity?, Malia Reddick, Michael J. Nelson, and Rachel Paine Caufield, American Judicature Society (February 2016)
- More Money, More Problems: Fleeting Victories for Diversity on the Bench, Michele L. Jawando and Billy Corriher, Center for American Progress (October 2015)
- Behind the Curtain of Federal Judicial Nominations, Colorado Ethics Watch and Courts Matter Colorado (2014)
- How Judicial Qualification Ratings May Disadvantage Minority and Female Candidates, Maya Sen, Journal of Law and Courts (2014)
- Merit Selection and Judicial Diversity Revisited, K.O. Myers, American Judicature Society (2014)
- Broadening the Bench: Professional Diversity and Judicial Nominations, Alliance for Justice (February 2014)