Demographic Data
Demographic Data on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity of California State Justices and Judges (Gov. Code § 12011.5(n))*
Current Year
Government Code section 12011.5(n) requires the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to collect and release aggregate demographic data relative to the gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity of California state court justices and judges, by specific jurisdiction, on or before March 1 of each year. The Governor and the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluations (JNE Commission) of the State Bar of California are similarly required to collect and release the same information for judicial applicants.
In accordance with the requirements of Government Code section 12011.5(n), the AOC collected the demographic data and prepared separate charts showing:
- the overall gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity of justices and judges in the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, and trial courts;
- the gender of justices and judges by jurisdiction—for the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal by district, and trial courts by county;
- the race/ethnicity of justices and judges by jurisdiction;
- the specific race/ethnicity reported by those justices and judges who indicated that they consider themselves to be of more than one race/ethnicity;
- the sexual orientation and gender identity of justices and judges by jurisdiction; and
- comparisons of the current overall data with the data from 2007.
Increasing the diversity of California's judicial officers to reflect the rich diversity of California's populace continues to be an important goal of the Judicial Council of California.
* The additional requirement for information on sexual orientation and gender identity was passed by the Legislature (Senate Bill 182) in 2011, with the data collected and released first in the 2012 report.
Prior Years