Target Audience: Researchers interested in learning more about the judicial nomination process and its impact on diversity in Article III Courts
Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will be able to explain the vetting process for Article III judicial nominees and analyze its impact on judicial diversity.
2. Participants will be able to analyze the impact on case law developed by diverse versus non-diverse Article III Courts from the perspective of a sitting judge.
2010 marked the anniversary of the appointment of Judge William H. Hastie, the first African American to serve as a federal judge, to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. Sixty years later, judicial diversity still has not been achieved; minority groups and women remain underrepresented on Article III Courts. A noted scholar on judicial diversity will discuss the continued need for a diverse court, and an attorney who has served on several judicial nominating committees will explain the vetting process and discuss the effects the process has on the level of diversity in federal courts. Finally, the Hon. Theodore A. McKee, Chief Judge of the same court on which Judge Hastie served, will talk about living through the vetting process and the impact of the courts’ composition on his work on the bench.