Data tell more positive story of Brown's impact on the bench

We write in response to the March 2 article "Brown's judge picks made bench more diverse." We have no quarrel with the headline, but we feel the story doesn't paint an accurate picture of all that Governor Jerry Brown has done to diversify the bench. The article suggests that certain demographic groups within our population exceed their numbers on the bench and from that disparity indicates some of those interviewed characterized Governor Brown's "impact on the diversity of the state judiciary" as "somewhat limited." We think the appointment data recently reported by the governor for the period from 2011 through 2017 tell a much different and more positive story.

It is no doubt true that many groups are underrepresented on the bench as compared with their numbers in the population. But that is beyond the governor's control. Consider that many of California's 58 counties do not have the breath of diversity in their legal communities that our larger counties have. Also, even in large counties, the same groups that are underrepresented on the bench in comparison with their population numbers are also underrepresented in the bar. It is from that the bar that judges are necessarily selected. Our Constitution requires anyone who is appointed or elected to the bench to have been a member of the bar for at least 10 years. The bench cannot reflect the full diversity of the state until the membership of the State Bar does so, which means we must all do more to encourage underrepresented groups to pursue a legal education and to succeed in their careers.

Consider too that between the time Jerry Brown first served as our governor and his most recent two terms, some governors of our state arguably did too little to increase the diversity of the bench. Governor George Deukmejian and Governor Pete Wilson's judicial picks were predominantly male and 88 percent and 84 percent white, respectively. Neither appointed a single openly gay judge to any California court. Governor Brown did more in his first two terms as governor to diversify the bench than either of those two governors, and in his more recent terms, the second of which is not yet complete, he has done more than any other governor in his appointments for every group: women, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and LGBT.

Finally, if one looks at the relevant population comparisons, that is those who are practicing lawyers and members of the California Bar and those who are now serving on our bench, it becomes obvious that Governor Brown's contribution to diversifying our bench cannot fairly be described as "somewhat limited." Notwithstanding many decades of non-diverse appointments by most prior governors, ethnic minorities serving as judges now exceed their numbers among practicing lawyers in this state by a significant amount. According to the data in Governor Brown's 2017 Judicial Appointment Data report (accessible at https://www.gov.ca.gov/2018/03/01/governor-brown-releases-2017-judicial-appointment-data/), Asian-Americans comprise 6.5 percent of our judiciary even though they make up only 5.9 percent of California's lawyers. Hispanic judges are 10 percent of our judiciary, whereas they make up only 4.6 percent of lawyers. Finally, 6.9 percent of our state's judges are black or African American as compared with only 1.9 percent of California's lawyers.

Of course there is more to do. While 41 percent of the governor's appointments have been women, roughly the same as the percentage of lawyers who are women, they still comprise only 33 percent of the judiciary. Yet in his two stints as governor, Brown has appointed more than 300 women judges. And while the governor's appointments of LGBT judges over the last seven years represent 6 percent of all appointees, which again is equal to their percentage in the lawyer population, at 3 percent of the judiciary there is still catching up to do. But we think that credit must be given where it is due. Governor Brown was the first to appoint any LGBT judges and he did so in the 1970s when it was almost unthinkable, and the next two governors appointed none. Moreover, consider the diversity and strength California's highest court (all three of the governor's appointments are ethnic minorities, bringing the number of sitting justices who are minorities to a majority on that court) and the many number of "firsts" listed in the compiled appointment data.

In short, that more work remains to be done in no way undermines the reality that Governor Brown, with the deep commitment and hard work of his Senior Advisor Josh Groban, have made huge inroads and in many instances eliminated the gap between the numbers of women lawyers, lawyers of color and LGBT lawyers and their numbers on the bench. We feel that to suggest this governor's efforts have been "somewhat limited," is not an accurate portrayal of a leader who has been historic in his commitment to diversity on the bench. Indeed, we know that personally to be true.