A Pennsylvania committee has made progress implementing some of the suggestions of a 2003 report commissioned by the state Supreme Court, including establishing official policies for more equitable treatment of women and minorities who work in the court system.
"Judges must be perceived as beyond price. When litigants go to court they ... do not want the umpire calling balls and strikes before the game has begun."
Ann Walsh Bradley, Wisconsin Supreme Court justice
Ann Walsh Bradley, Wisconsin Supreme Court justice
Diversity News
Most of California's judges previously served as prosecutors or civil litigators. Now, this is shifting towards public defenders.
Michael McShane was confirmed Tuesday to the U.S. District Court of Oregon, and is the fifth openly gay federal judge appointed by President Obama. According to the White House, there has only been one other openly gay federal judge in the nation’s history who was confirmed.
President Obama has nominated four women for federal judgeships, and the White House blog said each nominee would make history if confirmed.
As Jane Kelly prepared to take the oath on Friday as an Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge, an Associated Press profile labeled her career as a public defender rare for a judge.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously on Thursday in favor of President Obama’s nomination of Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan to the nation’s second most influential appeals court.
Since October, the majority of the lawyers who appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court were white males. Just 17 percent were women, four were Hispanic and only one was African American.
Utah attorney Renee Jimenez was appointed to the state’s 3rd District Juvenile Court, becoming the second minority judicial candidate nominated by Gov. Gary Herbert. In Virginia, the first African American appointed to serve as a federal judge will step down next year to become a senior judge.
The Senate confirmed Jane Kelly, an assistant public defender in Iowa, to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday by a 96-0 vote. Gavel Grab has more.
The New Jersey Legislature and state groups have continued to urge Gov. Chris Christie to appoint more diverse candidates to the state Supreme Court, but to no avail, argues Frank Argote-Freyre in a Times of Trenton opinion.
News media coverage from two Southern states, North Carolina and Mississippi, gave contrasting reports about diversity on the federal bench — or the lack of it.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s nomination of Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam, of the First Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court, to the state Court of Appeals would make her the first African-American woman in history to sit on New York’s highest court, if she were confirmed.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear's appointment of Court of Appeals Judge Michelle M. Keller to the state Supreme Court marks the first time that three female justices have sat on the seven-member bench at the same time
The White House has launched a new offensive to win confirmation of lawyer Sri Srinivasan for the second most influential U.S. appeals court, and President Obama has become personally engaged. Learn details from Gavel Grab.
The Senate has easily confirmed two prosecutors to the federal district court bench in New York. Both are women, and one of them was especially hailed for bringing enhanced diversity to the courts. Learn more in Gavel Grab.
President Obama, working to bring greater diversity to the federal bench, has stepped up dramatically his pace for picking judicial nominees. Read Gavel Grab for more.
City University of New York Law School professor Jenny Rivera was confirmed this week to the New York State Court of Appeals. Rivera is the second female Hispanic appointed to the state court in its history. Read details in Gavel Grab.
President Obama has nominated Todd M. Hughes to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. If confirmed, he would become the first openly gay U.S. appeals court judge. Read details at Gavel Grab.
When Florida Gov. Rick Scott drew fire from black state legislators, one target was his record for appointing African-Americans to judgeships. Gavel Grab has details.
Virginia lawmakers voted to give Judge Tracy Thorne-Begland, Virginia's first openly gay judge, a full six-year term. When the House voted against his nomination last year, he won an interim appointment. Learn more from Gavel Grab.
Montana Supreme Court Justice Laurie McKinnon took the oath of office, marking the first time in state history that three women have sat on the bench. Learn more from Gavel Grab.
In one week, Oklahoma’s highest appeals courts gained historic new diversity at their helms. Read Gavel Grab for details.
...It's also the first time any major federal courthouse in the country has an all-female bench of both lifetime appointees and their magistrate colleagues. Moreover, five of the six judges who sit in that courthouse are women of color. Read more at The Recorder
...What is it that makes a good judge? There is no one-dimensional answer, of course. But today I had the sad responsibility of delivering a eulogy for a good judge, an individual I appointed to New York's highest court in 2007. Read more at Slate
President Barack Obama sent the names of seven judges to the Senate Wednesday as his nominees for currently vacant slots in the federal judiciary, including an openly gay African-American nominee. Read more at SDGLN.com
