Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel and Director of Women and the Courts

Yesterday, the Washington Post published an op-ed by former D.C. Circuit Judge Patricia M. Wald. As Judge Wald put it, in short, “The D.C. Circuit has 11 judgeships but only seven active judges. There is cause for extreme concern that Congress is systematically denying the court the human resources it needs to carry out its weighty mandates.”

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: President Obama has made significant steps towards increasing the diversity of the federal judiciary in a number of important ways. 41% of Obama’s confirmed judges have been women — raising the number of total female active federal judges to approximately 30% overall. At the end of President Obama’s first term alone, there have been more female, black, Hispanic, and openly gay federal judges than confirmed during President George W. Bush’s two terms.

This brings us to the recent nomination of the Jane Kelly, who, if confirmed, would be the second-ever woman to serve on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. An article this morning that described one case recently decided by the Eighth Circuit is illustrative of how diversity matters to outcomes of actual cases that are decided and women contribute to the quality of justice. The article quotes the Executive Director of the Infinity Project, who describes the case of Shawanna Nelson, an Arkansas prisoner who filed a lawsuit over being shackled to a hospital bed while in labor.