THE AMERICAN LEGAL AND JUDICIAL SYSTEM| 369TABLETABLE » »^ 12.2^ 5.1
THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE FEDERAL BENCH
All presidents try to appoint qualifi ed candidates to the federal courts; however, there is variation in the types of people
they nominate. Identify some characteristics common to most judges and some that vary across presidents. Which
traits vary by the president’s party?OBAMAa W. BUSH CLINTON BUSH REAGAN
Experienceb
Judicial 61% (36) 52% (136) 52% (159) 47% (69) 46% (134)
Prosecutorial 54 (32) 47 (123) 41 (126) 39 (58) 44 (128)
Neither 24 (14) 25 (65) 29 (88) 32 (47) 29 (83)
Average age at nomination 51 49.1 49.5 48.2 48.6
Law school education
Public 39% (23) 49% (128) 40% (121) 53% (78) 45% (130)
Private 37 (22) 39 (102) 41 (124) 33 (49) 43 (126)
Ivy League 24 (14) 12 (31) 20 (60) 14 (21) 12 (34)
Gender
Male 51% (30) 79% (207) 72% (218) 80% (119) 92% (226)
Female 49 (29) 21 (54) 29 (87) 20 (29) 8 (24)
Ethnicity/race
White 56% (33) 82% (213) 75% (229) 89% (132) 92% (268)
African American 27 (16) 7 (18) 17 (53) 7 (10) 2 (6)
Hispanic 7 (4) 10 (26) 6 (18) 4 (6) 5 (14)
Asian 10 (6) 1 4 1.3 (4) – – 0.7 (2)
Native American – – – 0.3 (1) – – – –
Percentage white male 30 (18) 67 (176) 52 (160) 73 (108) 85 (246)
Political identifi cation
Democrat 90% (53) 8% (21) 88% (267) 6% (9) 5% (14)
Republican – 83 (217) 6 (19) 89 (131) 92 (266)
Other – – – 0.3 (1) – – – –
None 10% (6) 9 (23) 6 (18) 5 (8) 3 (10)
Net worth
Under $200,000 3% (2) 5% (13) 13% (41) 10% (15) 18% (52)
$200–499,999 7 (6) 18 (47) 22 (66) 31 (46) 38 (109)
$500–999,999 20 (12) 22 (57) 27 (82) 26 (39) 22 (63)
$1+ million 66 (39) 55 (144) 38 (116) 32 (48) 23 (66)
Total number of appointees 59 261 305 148 290
aThrough 2010.
bPercentages sum to more than 100 because some appointees have both judicial and prosecutorial experience.Source: Sheldon Goldman, Sara Schiavoni, and Elliot Slotnick, “Obama’s Judiciary at Midterm,” Judicature 94:6 (May–June 2011): 296–97.