Diversity News

Women have made major gains in state judiciaries, especially in the South, according to a new study. Learn more from Gavel Grab.

Elena Kagan's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court was not without its share of detractors, and certainly the high court's newest justice will be the subject of considerable scrutiny as she assumes her post. No matter how her voting record pans out, however, Kagan's confirmation is indicative of a court...

Georgias northern judicial district extending from Newnan to the Tennessee line has been home to several hundred African-American lawyers, including three state Supreme Court justices, four Court of Appeals judges, perhaps a score of Superior Court judges, three Atlanta mayors, two presidents of the Atlanta Bar Association, partners in every...

The Democrat and Chronicle's July 22 editorial urging greater leadership in the pursuit of equal justice motivates me to write about the special responsibility of court leaders to foster racial and ethnic fairness not only within the courts but throughout the entire legal system. Unfairness anywhere in the broader justice...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has nominated Tani Cantil-Sakauye to be chief justice of the California Supreme Court. If confirmed, she would become the state’s first Filipina American chief justice. Learn more in Gavel Grab.

The past few months have seen plenty of commentary about Elena Kagans status as one of only a few women ever nominated to the Supreme Court. But much of this commentary has rung hollow, consisting of platitudes about how she is a trailblazer. Practically no one has focused on what...

While most of the nation's attention remains fixed on the expected confirmation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the fourth woman ever to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, there is a fierce, largely ignored battle going on between President Obama and Senate Republicans over his goal of sharply altering...

Elena Kagans nomination for the Supreme Court has prompted a fresh round of talk about the decline of the Protestant establishment. If she is confirmed, Kagan would join a Court that, for the first time in its history, includes not a single White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. And, as many commentators have...

WASHINGTON Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan says while women have more educational opportunities than before, more must be done to achieve greater equality in the workplace. Kagan was addressing Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who noted women are still a minority in many professions. She agreed that in government and places...

There's been talk about how the current Supreme Court is more diverse than prior ones -- if Elena Kagan is confirmed as the next justice, the Court will have an African-American, a Hispanic and three women. And Kagan would bring another kind of diversity of experience as well, coming to...

As the U.S. Senate begins hearings on President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, it is worth noting that if the nomination is approved, it will be the first time in history that three female Justices will sit together on the Court. Kagan would also be the...

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Lucy Koh was confirmed Monday to a federal judgeship in San Jose, making her the first Asian-American to ever gain a spot on the Bay Area federal bench. With no outward Republican dissent, the Senate confirmed Koh on a 90 to 0 vote, securing...

Fifty years ago, an item in the Columbus newspaper noted that the Southern Baptist Convention had adopted a resolution urging its members to oppose the nomination of a Catholic for president of the United States. At the time, John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, was expected to be the Democratic nominee....

I was born a few years after Elena Kagan, so I really appreciated that, at age 50, President Barack Obamas new Supreme Court nominee is consistently referred to as young. I know, I know - the commentators probably mean relatively young for what she has accomplished, including becoming the dean...

U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagans nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court increases gender diversity on what has historically been a male-dominated institution. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Kagan would become the third woman serving on the current Supreme Court and the fourth female justice in the courts history. While...