Girl power on the bench: Number of female judges in US continues to rise

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By Kristi Tousignant
Dolan Media Newswires

The number of female judges in the United States continues to rise.

About 27.1 percent of federal and state judges are female, up from 26.6 percent in 2011 and 26 percent in 2010, according to a new study by the University at Albany Center For Women in Government & Civil Society.

That is some girl power, as the Spice Girls would say, though this situation may call more for black robes than leather pants and platform heels.

Wisconsin isn’t especially rocking the girl power, with women making up just 16.8 percent of all total state and federal judges. Breaking the numbers down, 15.9 percent of Wisconsin’s state judges and 28.6 percent of its federal judges are women.

VIEW A STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN
OF WOMEN ON THE BENCH

Montana leads the country with 40.3 percent.

Other findings from the study: women make up a total of 27.5 percent of state judges around the country; and the Northwest had the highest percentage of women judges at the state and federal level, at 30.4 percent; the Midwest was the lowest region at 24.6 percent.