Diversifying the Courts

Race, Gender, and Judicial Legitimacy

Nancy Scherer

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9781479818723
• eBook ISBN:
  9781479818747
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Public Law
• Index: Law

Examines the decisions of US presidents to appoint judges from diverse backgrounds to federal courts

In Diversifying the Courts, Nancy Scherer addresses why presidents choose—or don't choose—to diversify the federal courts by race, ethnicity, and gender. She explores how and why the issue became a bitter partisan fight in the first place, tracking the controversial history—and politics—of court diversification.

Drawing on polls, political experiments, surveys and one-on-one interviews, Scherer illuminates the complicated relationship between diversity and court legitimacy. She shows us how diverse representation can positively impact perceptions of the court among women and racial minorities, while having a negative impact on the perceptions among white people and men. Ultimately, Diversifying the Courts provides insight into the impact of gender, race, and ethnicity on the courts, illuminating some of the major challenges facing the American judicial system in the years that lie ahead.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface: The Sonia Sotomayor Nomination
• Introduction: Why Do U.S. Presidents Pursue (or Not Pursue) the Goal of Diversity to Choose Federal Judges?
• 1. A Brief History of Diversity on the Federal Bench
• 2. Why Democrats Support Diversifying the Courts
• 3. Why Republicans Oppose Diversifying the Courts
• 4. Sitting Judges Discuss Diversity
• 5. Diversity, Party Identification, and Political Legitimacy
• 6. Legitimacy and Gender Diversity on the Bench
• 7. Legitimacy and Racial Diversity on the Bench
• 8. Legitimacy and Descriptive/Substantive Representation
• 9. Legitimacy and Party Identification
• Conclusion: The Legitimacy of the U.S. Courts Is under Attack
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix A: Methods
• Appendix B: Mock Newspaper Articles
• Appendix C: Full Regression Models
• Notes
• References
• Index
• About the Author