A Demographic Snapshot of America\u27s Federal Judiciary: A Prima Facie Case for Change

Nearly a decade ago, then judge Sonia Sotomayer gave a speech at the U.C. Berkeley Law School and asked a simple question: “What it all will mean to have more women and people of color on the bench?” This article places Justice Sotomayer’s perceptive question in historical context by providing a demographic profile of the gender and race of federal judges confirmed to the bench from September 24, 1789 through January 13, 2011. The paper focuses principally upon federal courts of general jurisdiction, specifically, the Supreme Court, the various Courts of Appeal and the federal district courts. After presenting historical data, the article summarizes some reasons why the Executive Branch and the Senate should conscientiously cooperate to create a more diverse federal judiciary

Reflections on a Law Teaching Career as the Curtain Closes Only to Open Again

Grandmother once said to me, Johnny boy, it ain\u27t as long as it has been. Stated another way, Grandma was telling me that there were not as many years to come in her life as had already passed. In some respects, that\u27s the way it is with one\u27s teaching career. There is a beginning, a middle, and then a something else. I write to briefly share a few personal comments regarding how I am thinking about what happens next in my evolving career. [..

Implications of a Uniracial Worldview: Race and Rights in a New Era

This article begins by asking, What is Race: Some Modem Western Perspectives? Section I surveys race from various vantage points, including views associated with social and natural scientists, jurists, and members of the general public. In short, Section I grapples with what we currently mean when we use the term race. Many people, especially westerners, believe that the human family consists of multiple races. Such thinking flows from and reinforces multi-racial worldviews. Thus, Section II asks: What Does a Multi-racial Worldview Look Like? Here, using graphic symbols we attempt to communicate some sense of what a multi- racial perspective involves. Further, Section II introduces a uniracial worldview and contrasts that worldview with multi-racial worldviews. In preliminary fashion, Section III attempts to point a way out of difficulties generated from many people\u27s adoption of multi-racial worldviews. Specifically, Section III urges jurists and other policy makers (especially in the United States but also in sister nation states) to adopt a uniracial analysis in their decision making processes. Section III also outlines transformative possibilities of a uniracial worldview in the context of majoritarian public policy decision making, concerns about international human rights (including the innocuous subject of affirmative action), and interpersonal communications. Section IV furnishes concluding thoughts on the historic challenges and opportunities presented by a uniracial approach

A Demographic History of Federal Judicial Appointments by Gender and Race: 1789-2016

This article briefly surveys the constitutional and statutory foundation for the creation of the federal judiciary. It also furnishes data, by sex and race, of the appointment of federal judges to courts of general jurisdiction during each presidential administration from September 24, 1789, through April 11, 2016. Thus, Part I describes the pace of diversification of the federal judiciary. While data regarding other attributes of judges (such as their socioeconomic status) exist, extensive analysis of such characteristics falls outside the parameters of this preliminary analysis. Nonetheless, the Article notes in passing that, since 1989, during each presidential administration, the majority of federal judicial appointees have had a net worth in excess of a half million dollars. Part II discusses recent scholarship regarding the potential and actual impact on judicial decision making of a more diverse federal judiciary. To facilitate practical policy recommendations, Part II presents contemporary demographic data about sitting federal judges. This Article closes with observations on issues for further discussion and research

Modern Sappers and Miners : The Rehnquist and Roberts Courts and the Civil Rights Act of 1964

o orient readers on what is at stake, Section I provides a brief overview of the substantive provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Section II considers reasons why the Act was premised on Congress\u27 Commerce Clause authority rather than the enforcement power that the Constitution confers upon Congress under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. Section III evaluates several recent Supreme Court decisions that give the Commerce Clause a restrictive interpretation. For illustrative purposes, this section ex- plores the impact on Title Two of the Act. Finally, the article closes with a few observations of the implications of the Roberts\u27 Court jurisprudential approach in the ACA case