Getting appointed to the state court: The gender dimension

Githens, Marianne

doi:10.1080/1554477x.1995.9970741

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Another study of women competing for seats on intermediate state appellate courts finds no bias against them (Frederick and Streb, 2008). However, a study of female supreme courts justices found that women did better under appointment than electoral systems, especially when the court had previously been all-male (Bratton and Spill, 2002;Githens, 1995).…”

Section: Better Path To the Bench: Election Or Appointment?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anthony Champagne (:105) concludes: “Although there may be localities where one system has been successful in producing a representative judiciary, no system is clearly more successful overall in recruiting blacks and women.” Another study of women competing for seats on intermediate state appellate courts finds no bias against them (Frederick and Streb, ). However, a study of female supreme courts justices found that women did better under appointment than electoral systems, especially when the court had previously been all‐male (Bratton and Spill, ; Githens, ).…”

Section: Better Path To the Bench: Election Or Appointment?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Your Honor” is a Female: A Multistage Electoral Analysis of Women's Successes at Securing State Trial Court Judgeships*

Bullock¹,

MacManus

Owen

et al. 2014

Social Science Quarterly

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Objectives. Using a multistage gender-focused analysis of candidates for trial court judgeships, we seek answers to these leading questions: (1) Are women as strategic as men in choosing the conditions under which they run for an open seat or against an incumbent and against a male opponent or against another female? (2) Are women winning at the same rates as men under the same conditions at the primary election stage and at the runoff stage? (3) Are women as likely as men to move into a vacant trial court judgeship via a gubernatorial appointment? (4) Are women more likely to be appointed than to win election to the bench? Methods. This research represents the first use of an "all-stage" analysis of the relative success of female versus male candidates for trial court judge in nonpartisan settings. The three stages analyzed are (1) candidacy, (2) the initial primary round (outright victory or progression to the runoff ), and (3) the end stage-victory in a runoff, if necessary. The study is based on longitudinal data from Florida and Georgia-two of the nation's 10 largest states, each with higher contestation rates than the national average for nonpartisan trial court judicial racesand gubernatorial appointments to new or vacant judgeships. Results. Women behave strategically, more often seeking open seats than challenging incumbents and more often competing against men than women. Women participated in the candidate pools for most seats having contested primaries and when women run, they win more often than they lose, usually by defeating men. While women fare less well in runoffs than initial primaries, they win more runoffs than they lose. Women more often come to the bench by winning an election than securing a gubernatorial appointment, with female appointees disproportionately serving in newly created judgeships. Conclusions. Women frequently compete for trial court judgeships and when they run, they usually succeed. Open seats rather than challenging incumbents

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Section: Better Path To the Bench: Election Or Appointment?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Better Path To the Bench: Election Or Appointment?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Your Honor” is a Female: A Multistage Electoral Analysis of Women's Successes at Securing State Trial Court Judgeships*

Bullock¹,

MacManus

Owen

et al. 2014

Social Science Quarterly

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“…There are five major formal judicial selection systems employed across states, including executive appointment, commission or "merit" selection, legislative election, and nonpartisan and partisan election (Berkson, Beller, and Grimaldi, 1980). "Merit" selection systems in particular are designed to reduce the emphasis on patronage and public opinion in the judicial selection process and are designed to recruit a diverse set of judges (Alozie, 1996;Githens, 1995, Goldman, 1997. At the national level, Carter combined an emphasis on merit with an effort to diversify the federal bench.…”

Section: Selection Mechanisms and Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the national level, Carter combined an emphasis on merit with an effort to diversify the federal bench. At the state level, some scholars argue that a merit appointment process may favor women because the criteria for selection are more concrete; merit is the basis rather than patronage or political activism (Githens, 1995). On the other hand, as Alozie (1996) points out, judicial nominating systems are dominated by white males who may not be any more likely than voters or elected officials to diversify a state's judiciary.…”

Section: Selection Mechanisms and Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an analysis of state high courts during the 1980s, the Fund for Modern Courts (1985) concluded that women were more likely to obtain judicial office in executive appointment or merit selection systems. However, in an analysis of the Baltimore City Trial Court Nominating Commission, Githens (1995) found that gender and racial bias in the selection process existed even under a merit-based system. Analyzing judges on state high courts in 1993, Alozie (1996) found little evidence that the type of selection system affected the degree of diversity on a court.…”

Section: Selection Mechanisms and Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Existing Diversity and Judicial Selection: The Role of the Appointment Method in Establishing Gender Diversity in State Supreme Courts

Bratton

Spill

2002

Social Science Quarterly

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Objectives. To explore differences in the appointment and election method of selecting state high court justices in promoting gender diversity, and to explore the effect of existing gender diversity within the political institutions on the selection of women to office. Methods. Our data include all justices who have been selected to state courts of last resort from 1980 through 1997. We use logistic regression analysis to test the effect of existing gender diversity on a high court on the likelihood that a woman will be selected to fill a vacancy. Results. Women are significantly more likely to be selected to a state high court when initially appointed, and this effect is particularly pronounced when the governor is Democratic. When an appointment system is used, women are much more likely to be appointed to an allmale court than to a gender-diverse court. Conclusions. Appointment systems are more likely to create gender diversity on state courts; however, this effect operates primarily to diversify all-male courts. This difference between appointment and election systems may reflect differences in knowledge between elite actors and the mass public about the composition of the institution.A variety of arguments have been offered for the promotion of gender diversity within government. The foundation of many arguments for increased diversity is the belief that, regardless of whether because of biological, psychological, or sociological differences, women bring a different set of attitudes and beliefs and different areas of experience and expertise to policy making (Darcy, Welch, and Clark, 1994;Sapiro, 1981). Those who advocate diversity within government frequently argue that overwhelmingly male political institutions do not adequately represent the diverse interests of the mass

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“To Do Justly”: The Integration of Women into the American Judiciary

Palmer

2001

APSC

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In 1869, the state of Iowa admitted Arabella Mansfield to the Bar, making her the first woman to receive a license to practice law in the United States (Epstein 1993, 49). That same year, Myra Bradwell applied for an attorney's license in the state of Illinois. When the state refused her, she appealed her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied her claim by an eight-to-one vote (Bradwell v. Illinois 83 U.S. 130 [1873]). In his concurring opinion, Justic Joseph Bradley argues that, “The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator” (83 U.S. 130 [1873]). Ironically, shortly before the Supreme Court announced its decision, another woman in Illinois, Adah Kepley, attained a license to practice law. The judge who granted this license believed that her admission to the Bar was “proper and in accord with the spirit of the age” (Berkson 1982, 288).See Bowman (1998/99) for a list of biographies of these early women lawyers.

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Getting appointed to the state court: The gender dimension

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

“Your Honor” is a Female: A Multistage Electoral Analysis of Women's Successes at Securing State Trial Court Judgeships*

“Your Honor” is a Female: A Multistage Electoral Analysis of Women's Successes at Securing State Trial Court Judgeships*

Existing Diversity and Judicial Selection: The Role of the Appointment Method in Establishing Gender Diversity in State Supreme Courts

“To Do Justly”: The Integration of Women into the American Judiciary

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