25 of the 94 Federal District Courts have Never Had a Non-White Judge - Including Pennsylvania Middle and All New England States
According to a recent Bloomberg Law analysis of federal court records, 8 states in the South and 15 from the Northeast to the upper Great Plains have courts that never have had a non-White judge. While there are not any formal requirements to be considered for a federal judgeship, many trial court judges come from major law firms, US attorney’s offices, or were already judges in other courts. Black Americans have historically been underrepresented in those jobs in many states.
President Barack Obama significantly diversified the federal courts: about one-fifth of his judicial appointees were Black, and President Joe Biden already has done more. He has gotten confirmed a far higher percentage of women (67.1%) than President Donald Trump (23.9%) or President Barack Obama (41.9%). Overall, 66% of Biden’s nominees have been people of color, according to the White House. Some 30% of Biden’s confirmed judges have been African American, compared to 3.9% under Trump and 17.9% under Obama.
Many Black lawyers have not had the elite professional experiences and political connections that help elevate White lawyers to the US bench, according to local Black lawyers. The result is a major deficit in the administration of justice on the court when ever-deepening political polarization has increased the power of a single district judge. Their rulings at the trial district court level frequently start high-profile battles over immigration, public health, criminal justice, and other contentious social issues.
One example of the impact of the proportionate deficit of black judges is the Southern District of Georgia - the cities of Savannah and Augusta and 43 counties on the coast and in state’s southeastern corner. Nearly one-third of the district’s residents are Black, making it the most diverse of any judicial district that has only ever had White judges. There is a disproportionate number of Black criminal defendants, at times 70% to 80% of the defendants charged were people of color.
Research is mixed on how a judge’s racial identity impacts their decision-making in criminal cases. Some studies have found that Black judges are more punitive though others are not. One former prosecutor said to avoid disproportionate harm to some communities, the justice system needs to reflect a diversity of life experiences and perspectives.
*****
Read the September 5, 2023 Bloomberg Law News article.
Read the July 30, 2023 Washington Post article.
