Diversity in our courts is important to all!

As your constituent, I am writing to ask you to prioritize increasing gender, racial, and professional diversity in our state’s process for selecting judges. Judges make important decisions that impact my life and the lives of millions of people in this state. Therefore, I want to see our courts also reflect the diversity of our state. We need women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and people with disabilities serving as judges in our state courts. It is also important that judges have diverse legal backgrounds so that they bring expertise in different areas of law that impact people, including civil rights, public interest, and public defense. There are already many qualified attorneys who are women and people of color and who could be considered. In 2024, women made up the majority of federal government attorneys and law firm associates, and the number of attorneys who are people of color has doubled in the past 10 years. It’s clear that there is a large pool of attorneys with diverse backgrounds and personal experiences who could potentially serve as state judges. Even though law schools and the legal profession are becoming more diverse, the same can’t be said about the courts. There are slightly more women than men in the U.S., but women only make up an average of 34% of all state courts judgeships. The lack of gender and racial diversity in the state judiciaries is even worse at the highest levels of the courts. Women of color make up 20% of the U.S. population, yet only 12% of all state supreme court seats. During President Biden’s term, we saw the largest increase in women of color ever nominated to be judges, which greatly diversified the federal judiciary. We even had the first Black woman, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, confirmed to the Supreme Court. As we see from the federal courts, proactive efforts can successfully diversify the judiciary with qualified judges from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. I ask that you consider possible options for diversifying our state judiciary. For example, you may consider diversifying selection committees, working with affinity bar associations to promote outreach and awareness, or forming a committee to make recommendations about diversifying our state courts Diversity within our court systems helps build public trust and helps ensure that our state courts serve everyone, regardless of their background or experience. That is why I ask you to prioritize diversifying our state courts to reflect the rich diversity of our communities. Thank you for your time and consideration in this important matter.