Women in the Judiciary

So another Friday is here. In this week’s roundup, we’ve got some thoughts on Occupy Wall Street, new developments around the HPV vaccine, a TV show on abortion in the works, and more. Read more »

Today, the Senate confirmed Alison Nathan and Katherine Forrest to be judges on the Southern District of New York, and Susan Owens Hickey to the Western District of Arkansas. That brings the total number of female active district court judges to 183 – or 30%. In addition, Judge Nathan will become the third openly gay judge on the Southern District of New York. We heartily celebrate the addition of these highly qualified women to the federal bench. Read more »

Just wanted to flag an ACS blog post on women in the legal profession, citing an editorial in Tuesday’s New York Times, for anyone who didn’t get their daily dose of depressing yet. To wit:

• Women make up only 30 percent of the federal judiciary (and even fewer state judges are women). ACS notes that this dismal statistic comes thirty years after Justice O’Connor’s appointment as the first woman on the Supreme Court, and I would add that for almost twenty years, women have made up nearly half of law school classes – so there’s no lack of women in the pipeline.
• The Times editorial noted that female lawyers are paid 74% of what male lawyers are paid, and that a shocking 90% of women in the legal profession report experiencing sex discrimination.