State judiciary diversity increased in past 14 years

The state judiciary has grown far more diverse over the past 14 years, according to Judicial Council data released Monday.

The numbers of Asian, Black, Latino and gay judges also grew in absolute numbers during 2020, even after the judiciary experienced a second straight year of net attrition. Each of these groups saw their percentage of the judiciary increase by either 0.2% or 0.3%. While these are small gains in absolute terms, amounting to between one and three judges per group, they are significant on a year-over-year basis.

“As the first Asian-Filipina American and the second woman to serve as the state’s chief justice, I’m pleased that California’s judiciary continues to grow more diverse,” Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye said in a news release. “Thanks in large part to recent appointments from Gov. Gavin Newsom and his predecessor Gov. Jerry Brown, our courts are more reflective of the rich tapestry of people we serve.”

Cantil-Sakauye’s seven-member court is the most diverse branch. It has higher percentages of women and most minority groups. Just two members are non-Hispanic whites.

But the changes Cantil-Sakauye cites really took off under the governor who appointed her, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He did more to diversify the bench during his second term than Brown did when he returned to the office between 2011 and 2015. Brown ended up having a far larger overall effect, however, especially during his final two years in office.

When the Daily Journal interviewed her recently for a special retrospective issue, Schwarzenegger’s judicial appointments secretary during his second term said she had to overcome entrenched interests who had long controlled judicial appointments, ranging from politicians to bar groups.

“Everybody was of the opinion that whoever was in the governor’s office was just a rubber stamp,” said Sharon B. Majors-Lewis, now a San Diego County judge.

Many governors appoint relatively fewer judges during much of their terms, often deferring to elections, then fill nearly every open seat during their last year or two in office.

Newsom has followed the same pattern. The number of active judges in the state has fallen from 1,743 at the end of 2018, just before Brown left office, to 1,703 at the end of 2020. There are now 70 open superior court judgeships and six spots for appellate justices, according to data released Feb. 1 by the Judicial Council. This compares to just eight openings two years ago.

The percentage of women on the bench grew over the past year, even though the total number of women judges fell. The 640 current women judges represent 37.6% of the judiciary, while 648 women were just 37.4% of the bench a year earlier.

The Legislature mandated the annual judicial demographics report under a law passed in 2006. Since the Judicial Council delivered its first report in early 2007, the percentage of women on the bench has grown from 27.1% to 37.6%. The percentage of judges who report an ethnicity besides non-Hispanic white jumped from 19.9% to 33.2%. By comparison, the membership of the State Bar of California was 42% women and 32% nonwhite in 2019.

The Legislature didn’t require judges to be asked about their sexual orientation until the 2012 report. Since then, the percentage of judges self-identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender has nearly doubled, from 2.2% to 4.1%. California also saw its first three openly gay appellate court justices. In November, the Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed Martin J. Jenkins as the state’s first openly gay California Supreme Court Justice.