The Recruitment of Blacks to State Courts of Last Resort

This chapter explores the patterns of black representation on state courts of last resort. It describes the efficacy of several explanations for patterns, including: judicial selection systems; eligible pool; size of collegial body; incumbency and the window of opportunity; minority political power; intergroup competition; and regionalism. The chapter discusses the race progressiveness gap thesis, which hypothesizes that blacks will do less well in the South. The 1980s was a decade of profound debate and litigation over minority recruitment and participation on state judiciaries across the United States. Perhaps a particularly far-reaching policy implication of the study pertains to the effects of the black legal-profession-specific factor lower judgeships. Conversely, the analysis indicates no significant effects for term of office or judicial selection systems. The data since the mid-1980s provide evidence that blacks continue to gain greater access to state judiciaries, although they are underrepresented with respect to their composition in the population and serve primarily on state courts of limited jurisdiction.