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Monday, November 22, 2004
Law - Women judges making strides in Louisville area
The Louisville Courier Journal reports today that "Election sweep helps women claim majority of Jefferson judicial posts." Some quotes from the story:
"You've got two things going on in Louisville," said Larry O'Bryan, a local political consultant who has represented about 20 judicial candidates, both men and women. "Women are winning, and people with well-known names are winning, and that's a fact."Note: On the other hand, there are no women on the Indiana Supreme Court.But some female judicial candidates question whether gender has played a part in election results. More important, they say, is the rising number of qualified female candidates spilling out of law schools and working as public defenders and prosecutors.
"There is a tremendous number of women in the pipeline, and that did not used to be the case," said Charles Geyh, a professor of law at Indiana University, who has studied the importance of diversity, and the increasing number of women, on the bench.
Several judicial experts and judges say it is too early to determine the impact of more female judges. But they say stereotypical predictions of women judges being more empathetic and lenient on criminals haven't been borne out.
Advocates for women and domestic violence victims praise the surge in female judges, saying it helps the courts better reflect the community.
"Having more inclusiveness on the bench leads to the opportunity for a greater understanding from the people making decisions about the lives of people and families," said Cathe Dykstra, director of the Economic Success Program for the Center for Women and Families.
The rise of women on the bench should be a comfort to the public, judges and judicial experts said. "Is justice blind if all the people rendering justice are white and male?" Geyh asked. * * *
Women's success in Jefferson judicial races, however, hasn't been reflected in other elected offices across Kentucky.
The state ranks 48th in the nation for its percentage of women in the state legislature, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. And in Kentucky's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, women hold four of 20 spots
Still, women are making inroads in America's courts, building public confidence as more ascend to judicial leadership positions, some political experts and judges say.
Across the nation, 22 women — or 44 percent — serve as chief justices of state high courts, said Diane Yu, chief of staff at New York University and chairwoman of the American Bar Association commission on women.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 22, 2004 09:50 AM
Posted to General Law Related