Diversifying the Courts: Race, Gender, and Judicial Legitimacy

Examines the decisions of United States presidents to appoint judges from diverse backgrounds to federal courts



In Diversifying the Courts, Nancy Scherer addresses why presidents choose-or don't choose-to diversify the federal courts by race, ethnicity, and gender. She explores how and why the issue became a bitter partisan fight in the first place, tracking the controversial history-and politics-of court diversification.



Drawing on polls, political experiments, surveys and one-on-one intervi...