Judicial Diversity: A Resource Page
Although diversity is an essential component of a fair and impartial judiciary, neither state nor federal courts reflect the diversity of the communities they serve or the legal profession. Below are selected resources from the Brennan Center, other organizations, scholars, and the government describing the current composition of our courts, identify best practices for promoting diversity, and clarify the 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
- State Supreme Court Diversity – April 2021 Update, Alicia Bannon and Janna Adelstein, Brennan Center for Justice
- State Supreme Court Diversity – February 2020 Update, Alicia Bannon and Janna Adelstein, Brennan Center for Justice
- State Supreme Court Diversity, Laila Robbins and Alicia Bannon, Brennan Center for Justice
- American Bar Association: National Database on Judicial Diversity in State Courts
- The Gavel Gap, Tracey E. George and Albert H. Yoon, American Constitution Society
- National Association of Women Judges: Statistics
- National Center for State Courts: State Court Organization
- Data Collection Best Practices
- Diversity Counts, Yuvraj Joshi, Lambda Legal and American Constitution Society
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.
- State Supreme Court Diversity, Laila Robbins and Alicia Bannon, Brennan Center for Justice
- Building a Diverse Bench: A Guide for Judicial Nominating Commissioners, Kate Berry, Brennan Center for Justice
- Building a Diverse Bench: Selecting Federal Magistrate and Bankruptcy Judges, Kate Berry, Brennan Center for Justice and American Bar Association Judicial Division
- Building a Diverse Court: A Guide to Recruitment and Retention, Sheryl J. Willert, Washington State Minority and Justice Commission
- 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
- Improving Judicial Diversity, Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Monique Chase, Emma Greenman, and Susan M. Liss, Brennan Center for Justice
- The Judiciary, Diversity, and Justice for All, Edward M. Chen, California Law Review
- Race and the Judiciary, Harry T. Edwards, Yale Law & Policy Review
- Racial Diversity on the Bench: Beyond Role Models and Public Confidence, Sherrilyn A. Ifill, Washington and Lee Law Review
- Why Federal Courts Matter to the LGBT Community, Lambda Legal
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.
- State Supreme Court Diversity, Laila Robbins and Alicia Bannon, Brennan Center for Justice
- Answering the Call for a More Diverse Judiciary: A Review of State Judicial Selection Models and Their Impact on Diversity, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- Behind the Curtain of Federal Judicial Nominations, Colorado Ethics Watch and Courts Matter Colorado
- Broadening the Bench: Professional Diversity and Judicial Nominations, Alliance for Justice
- 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
- How Judicial Elections Impact Criminal Cases, Kate Berry, Brennan Center for Justice
- How Judicial Qualification Ratings May Disadvantage Minority and Female Candidates, Maya Sen, Journal of Law and Courts
- Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map, Brennan Center for Justice
- 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
- Merit Selection and Judicial Diversity Revisited, K.O. Myers, American Judicature Society
- More Money, More Problems: Fleeting Victories for Diversity on the Bench, Michele L. Jawando and Billy Corriher, Center for American Progress
- State Supreme Courts Are Overwhelmingly White and Male, Laila Robbins, Brennan Center for Justice
- Two Women of Color Won State Supreme Court Races — and Sadly, That’s Progress, Alicia Bannon and Laila Robbins, Brennan Center for Justice