Study Finds Fewer Women May Seek Serving on the Bench

While President Obama is making his decision about whom to nominate to replace David Souter, a national discussion has begun about the necessity of a woman to join Justice Ginsburg on the bench of the highest court in the land. The paucity of women on the bench in general, then, begs the question why.

Under President Bush, there was a precipitous drop in the number of women appointed to the Federal bench, with women accounting for 22% of appointed Federal judges. There are even two circuits which are close to becoming all-male. The same type of drop was evident under former President Bush and under President Reagan. Again, the question should be why.

The answer may be surprising: According to the results of a recent study, there may have simply been fewer women putting themselves forward as candidates for such appointments.

The study, which interviewed a cross-section of both lawyers and judges, documented people's individual reasons for choosing a life in the judicial branch. While some aspects might be seen as attractive to working mothers, especially the lack of travel and the regularity of the hours, the main detractors for women have traditionally been both the campaigning and the pursuit of a more political, public office.

While that may seem a quibbling reason to shy away from deciding the future of future generations of women, it should be noted that the study, conducted in Texas, also found that the elections of judges in that state had turned as partisan as that of the legislators. In particular, a strong correlation was seen between the partisanship of the judicial and legislative elections across the state, a fact which has been disheartening to many judges, who prefer to think of the law as being truly outside partisanship. In addition, the notion of having to work as a fundraiser has been a strong deterrent to most attorneys with the ambition to become judges.

Even if partisanship is left aside, it has been found that attorneys practicing in a district about to hold an election feel a need to donate money to the judicial nominees' campaigns, leading to an ethical debate within the would-be judges that is not easily reconciled.

Still, while the vast majority of both judges and attorneys surveyed viewed serving on the bench as an extremely positive way to influence and contribute to their community, the vast majority also think the partisanship and election process is a major deterrent to wanting to pursue the office.

What has been shown to matter most is the perception of this partisanship, even if it is nonexistent, especially to female respondents. As a result, it is entirely possible to draw the conclusion from this study that, given the reputation and general perception of Alberto Gonzalez's Department of Jutice as being increasingly partisan, many women might simply have not sought to serve on the Federal bench, thinking it would be a fruitless exercise in something they already view as mildly unethical and unattractive.

"Individual Explanations For Serving On State Courts" http://www.allacademic.com/"Gap on Federal Bench? 8th Circuit Here We Come", http://www.womensenews.org