After President Barack Obama won the election, and even during his campaign, he pledged to expand diversity across the federal government. The president’s cabinet choices show that he is making good on this vow. The federal bench is another significant field that needs increased diversity, especially in terms of ethnicity and gender. Now that Obama is in his presidency’s ninth month, this is an excellent time to analyze the judicial selection record that Obama has compiled since assuming office. The review shows that the chief executive deserves substantial credit for nominating large numbers and percentages of highly qualified, diverse candidates whom the Senate should promptly approve.
Women and ethnic minorities have long been underrepresented in the federal judiciary compared with the U.S. population. Eighty-four percent of federal judges are white. Female jurists comprise 20%. African-Americans constitute 8%. Out of the almost 1,300 sitting federal judges, a mere 11 are Asian-American and only one is a Native American. A significant percentage of the 94 federal districts has never had a jurist who is a woman or a person of color.
