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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Ind. Courts - Indiana Supreme Court only Supreme Court in Nation with No Women Members! [Updated]

Betsy Z. Russell of the The Spokesman Review - Spokane, WA (registration required), writes today in a story that begins:

BOISE – Depending on the outcome of daylong interviews today, Idaho could become one of just two states with no women on its highest state court.

Idaho Supreme Court Justice Linda Copple Trout, the only woman on the court now, is retiring at the end of the month, and the pool of 12 applicants to replace her includes just four women. When Idaho last filled a Supreme Court position earlier this summer, just two women were among the 19 applicants, and none made the short list passed on to the governor for appointment.

Gov. Butch Otter said then that he was hopeful more women would apply, but he declined to comment Monday on the upcoming appointment. "He is not going to do anything to interfere with the process," said Otter's spokesman, Jon Hanian.

Right now, Idaho is among 20 states with just one woman serving on its highest court, according to the National Center for State Courts. Only Indiana has none. Washington has four.

Peg Dougherty, vice president of Idaho Women Lawyers Inc., said her group is concerned about a lack of women and minorities throughout Idaho's judiciary. Although women make up 24 percent of Idaho's lawyers, only 1.5 percent of Idaho's female lawyers are judges. Just six of 42 state district court judges are women, and only 10 of 87 magistrate court judges.

"These numbers should be alarming not only to women lawyers in Idaho but to every Idaho citizen," Dougherty said.

Nationally, 12.9 percent of female lawyers are members of the judiciary.

[Emphasis added.] The ILB has of course pointed to the absence of women justices on the Indiana Supreme Court before, but did not recognize that Indiana stands alone in this regard.

[Updated 8/29/07] See also this AP story.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 28, 2007 06:28 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts