diversity
June 15, 2021 -
Federal appellate courts in the Deep South are disproportionately white compared to the region's population, but President Joe Biden has pledged to diversify the courts with his nominations. Efforts to expand the region's mostly white state appellate courts could also lead to more diversity on the bench.
October 25, 2019 -
Despite the Supreme Court's 65-year-old landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling establishing that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, school secession efforts like the one now underway in Louisiana's East Baton Rouge Parish are leading to more segregated schools.
July 15, 2019 -
Across the South, voting rights advocates argue that judicial elections violate the Voting Rights Act by depriving communities of color of representation on state courts. Federal courts are hearing lawsuits in Arkansas and Alabama, where the state supreme courts are all white.
March 29, 2019 -
Governors in Florida and North Carolina recently appointed Jewish justices to their state supreme courts — a first for North Carolina. Studies have shown that Jewish judges, as well as those who belong to other religious minorities, tend to rule in favor of religious freedom.
December 19, 2018 -
As the lame duck governor heads to the U.S. Senate, Florida is losing its only black Supreme Court justice. That's no accident: A drastic loss in racial diversity on Florida state courts is part of Gov. Scott's legacy and has led to demands for reforming how judges are chosen.
November 9, 2018 -
From Arkansas to North Carolina to Texas, courts in the South will look much different following the election of more diverse and progressive candidates.
September 22, 2016 -
At the same time Hillary Clinton is making political history with her presidential run, women — and especially women of color — remain dramatically underrepresented among North Carolina's county commissioners. In fact, 42 of the state's 100 counties have no women commissioners at all, a Facing South analysis finds.
