A Demographic History of Federal Judicial Appointments by Sex and Race: 1789–2016

Abstract

I. Historical Overview ................................................................................................ 96 A. Relevant Constitutional Provisions ........................................................ 96 B. The Judiciary Act of 1789 ...................................................................... 97 C. Presidential Appointments of Federal Judges ........................................ 99 1. George Washington to Herbert Hoover ........................................... 99 2. The Initial Desegregation by Race and Sex of Federal Courts of General Jurisdiction: Franklin Roosevelt to Jimmy Carter ........ 101 3. Slow Progress in Federal Judicial Desegregation: Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama ................................................................. 106 D. Data Summary ...................................................................................... 109 II. The Myth and Substance of Federal Judicial Diversity ....................................... 113 A. Diversity Mythology ............................................................................. 113 B. Sotomayor’s Unanswered Question ..................................................... 119 C. A Preliminary Assessment .................................................................... 124 1. Process Concerns ............................................................................ 125 2. Qualitative Queries ......................................................................... 126