Recently, I wrote that it would be both refreshing and advisable to hear President-Elect Obama commit to bringing the number of women on the Supreme Court in line with the percentage of women in the general population, meaning five women on the High Court, asap.
In addition the President can affect the composition of the federal judiciary at all levels. Although eight years of George W. Bush appointments has stacked the lower federal courts with conservative appointments, mostly youngish men, the next President could pledge now to consider appointing qualified women before adding any further qualified men until the composition of the federal judiciary as whole reflects the proportion of women in the country. A rather cursory web search reveals that women comprise only about 28 per cent of the federal judiciary (District Courts, Courts of Appeal and Supreme Court); women comprise just over 50% of the U.S. population as a whole.
