Gender and Racial Diversification of State Supreme Courts

This study presents an updated and more accurate composite profile of state supreme court justices than currently exists. Important gender and racial diversification has taken place in the two decades since the most frequently cited studies of the background characteristics of justices. This study demonstrates that this increased diversification has contributed to greater diversity in judicial background characteristics such as age, localism, career patterns and method of judicial selection. This diversity in background is most pronounced among women and African-American justices, and suggests that the definition of the eligible pool has been broadened in many states since the early eighties.