A Brief Case for Women on the Bench

In light of Elena Kagan’s recent nomination to the Supreme Court, let us take a moment to applaud the President in recognizing the dearth and importance of women’s representation on the bench. Since 1973, when the first female attorney was admitted to the bar, only five women have been nominated to the Supreme Court and only four have served. While women judges have made impressive strides in the past 137 years, it is clear that our nomination process has not always kept up. Overall, women comprise only 24.7% of sitting federal judges!

A women’s perspective is essential on the bench. In a 2009 USA TODAY article, Justice Ginsberg, at one point the sole woman on the Supreme Court, called for, “Women being in all places where decisions are being made…It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” Her point is illustrated by disappointing decisions such as Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.; in reference to this case, Ginsburg further noted that, “I have no doubt that [Sandra Day O'Connor] would have understood Lilly Ledbetter’s situation.”

I am pleased to see that in our current administration, women are not the exception! We well know that 100% of Obama’s nominees to the Supreme Court have been women, but also impressive is the fact that 46.3% of President Obama’s nominees to the federal bench have been women, more than twice Bush’s meager 22%! That’s some serious progress!

*All of the facts and statistics from post were taken from an Alliance for Justice Report: A Snapshot of Women in the Judiciary as Three Women Poised to Sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.