Judicial Council survey confirms people with disabilities underrepresented on the bench

The Judicial Council of California’s March 1 news release, “Survey Results: California Bench Growing More Diverse,” states, “Data show steady increase in women and justices and judges of color over 15 years.” A step forward for women and people of color. Long overdue. What the Judicial Council glaringly omits is people with disabilities who make up 20% of California’s population are not being proportionately appointed to the California courts at all levels.

Review of the news release reveals there are 672 active judges who participated in the survey. Only 3% (17) of those judges indicate they have a disability. Assuming some judges do not want to admit they have a disability, the lack of people with disabilities on the bench remains disproportionate to the general population. Courts that are not representative of the members they serve risk having their decisions viewed with suspicion or outright rejection. Governor after governor come and go asserting their appointments are more inclusive than the previous administration. But statistics do not lie. People with disabilities have been historically and overtly discriminated against. They have been left behind and continue to be marginalized in the appointment process. We can see once again the insidious effects of unconscious bias against those with disabilities due to their lack of representation on the courts.

So what is to be done with another governor making appointments? Will Gov. Gavin Newsom aggressively address the under representation issue of people with disabilities, or will he trumpet once again improved statistics for other impacted groups? I have a solution for the governor that I have discussed before in letters to the editor when Gov. Jerry Brown was in office: The problem is obvious. Empower the appointments secretary to reach out into the disabled community for qualified applicants. Establish a plan with real measurability to address the under representation. Hold someone accountable if the plan fails. That’s called leadership. 

— Peter Lynch

Cozen O’Connor P.C.