Washington State’s newest justice is a black, gay, disabled, lesbian immigrant.
, Montoya-Lewis also spoke about the ways her identity informs her jurisprudence. “I was raised to remember that I come from those who survived,” she said, referencing the struggles of her Jewish and Native American ancestors. She explained how that family history helped her form a perspective on justice not an “abstract concept” but as “a term of action.” “I’m honored to bring that perspective to the Supreme Court,” Montoya-Lewis said, “as well as the stories that helped me to formulate it.
Washington now has arguably the most diverse court, state or federal, in American history. There are currently seven female justices, including the chief justice—a record for any state Supreme Court—and just one straight, white, male justice. Its closest competitor is the California Supreme Court. Three of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown’s four appointees to that court are people of color: Goodwin Liu , Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar , and Leondra Kruger .policy.
Washington and California’s Supreme Courts are, unfortunately, outliers on this front. A 2019 Brennan Center for Justicefound that most states’ high courts are “overwhelmingly white and male.” It noted that 24 states have all-white Supreme Courts, while just 15 percent of state Supreme Court seats nationwide are held by racial minorities—even though nearly 40 percent of the country is non-white.
Unsurprisingly, progressive governors are substantially more likely to appoint diverse judges. From 2017 to 2018, Democratic governors appointed 83 percent of justices of color, while Republican governors appointed 77 percent of white justices. But Republican governors aren’t the only roadblocks to a diverse judiciary; many states elect their justices, and judicial elections strongly favor white people.
Whitener and Yu are correct that judicial diversity is important to the legitimacy of the courts. One scholar hasthat citizens “of all races and ethnicities are more likely to believe that our justice system is fair and equitable to all when judicial decisionmakers reflect the diversity of the citizenry.” Diverse judges also tend to have a deeper understanding of the ways that illicit bias can infect law and policy.
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