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AMERICAN WOMEN JUDGES: A SURVEY OF

THEIR BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES

BY

Barbara L. Brehm

An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted to
The College of Social Science

Michigan State University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements fOr the Degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE
School of Criminal Justice

1974

Approved:

 

 

 

‘Mr . Marvin a

m /-’a€zr/%M

. Ro ert Scott

. \3
{31:}

a? ABSTRACT

U

AMERICAN WOMEN JUDGES: A SURVEY OF
THEIR BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES

BY

Barbara Laurie Brehm

Although the feminist movement has been around for
a long time, only recently has there been a renewed interest
in the position of the American working woman. The law,
and in particular the office of judge, has generally been
'-considered to be "men's work." But there is concern over
the backlog of cases in our courts. A prOposed increase in
the number of courts to remove and prevent further backlog
would necessitate more judgeships. Women lawyers are an
almost virtually untapped source to fill these prOposed
positions.

The purpose of this study was to gather information
on who our current women judges are, with emphasis on their
career ladders. Also the judges' viewpoints on such current
legal issues as the age of majority or factors important in
sentencing were solicited from the respondents.

The names of all American women judges were col-
lected from state bar associations. Then a forty-three item
questionnaire was sent to each of the women judges on the

state lists. The questions covered family history, legal

Barbara Laurie Brehm

experience, judicial experience, political activity, femi-
nistic views and attitudes on several legal controversies.
Interviews were conducted with four Michigan women judges of
varying bench levels to gather further information on these
topics.

The major findings of this study showed that the
women judges who were in the prime occupational movement
group in the 1950's were as numerous as those from other
age groups but that they saw stronger sexual and political
barriers to their advancement than did the other groups.
Secondly, most of the current women judges did not come
from families already involved in the practice of law, nor
did these women use heavy political activity as an entry
into the judiciary, There was some specialization by the
women judges in areas of "women's law" such as probate court.
A larger percentage of the women judges were found in urban
areas. Finally, the women judges were not heavily active in
formal feministic groups. This study also provided a large
body of descriptive data on the backgrounds of the women
judges.

It is believed that this study has uncovered no
information that would support any argument against women
serving as judges. Therefore, unless a functional reason
is discovered for discrimination against women becoming
judges, qualified women should be considered equally for

promotion to and within the American judiciary.

AMERICAN WOMEN JUDGES: A SURVEY OF

THEIR BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES

BY

Barbara Laurie Brehm

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE

School of Criminal Justice

1974

Dedicated to my Mother and my Father

-—who put up with me all these years.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the chairperson of my commit-
tee, Mr. Zolton Ferency, for his advice and encouragement in
developing this thesis. Appreciation is also due to
Mr. Marvin Zalman and Mr. Robert Scott for their aid in
serving as committee members and especially for their help-
ful suggestions in preparing the questionnaire. I wish to
extend a special thanks to Dr. Robert Lorinskas and Mr. Jack
Green for bringing the SPSS program to my attention and for
their aid in using that program.

Great help was given by Justice Mary Coleman,

Judge Cornelia Kennedy, Judge Zoe Burkholz and Judge Alice
Gilbert by their granting me interviews. This thesis would
not have been possible without the effort by all the women
judges who took the time to complete the questionnaire.

The financial support given by the Law Enforcement
Assistance Administration was appreciated. Mrs. Eleanor S.
Brehm's efforts in the processing of the questionnaires was
invaluable.

And finally, without the tolerance and understanding
of my friends and the encouragement from my parents, Howard
and Eleanor Brehm, this thesis would never have been com-

pleted.

iii

LIST OF

LIST OF

Chapter

I.

II.

III.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vi
FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vii
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
THE PROBLEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . 3
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY . . . . . . . . . 4
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .. . . .'. . . . . . 6
THE HYPOTHESIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
DEFINITION OF TERMS . . . . . . . . . . . 22
SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . 24
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . 24
REVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH . . . . . . . 28
DESIGN OF THE STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
DETERMINING THE POPULATION . . . . . . . . 34
PREPARING THE QUESTIONNAIRE . . . . . . . 35
SELECTION OF THE INTERVIEW SUBJECTS . . . 42
THE INTERVIEW FORMAT . . . . . . . . . . . 44
METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS . . . . . . . . 47

iv

Chapter Page

IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . 50
CROSS-TABULATIONS AND BREAKDOWN RESULTS . . 63
INTERVIEW RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

V. SUMMARY, IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . 83
IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS . . . . . . . . 85

AREAS FOR FURTHER STUDY . . . . . . . . . . 86
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

APPENDICES

A. LETTER REQUESTING JUDGES' NAMES . . . . . . . 90

B. THE COVER LETTER AND QUESTIONNAIRE .‘. . . . 92

C. INTERVIEW REQUEST LETTER . . . . . . . . . . 102

D. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

E. CODING SYSTEM FOR TABULATING QUESTIONNAIRES . 107

BIBLIOGMPHY O O I O O O O O O C O O O O O O O O O O O 117

LIST OF TABLES

Return Rate by Region . . . . . . . . .
Barriers to Promotion by Age Group . .

Family Members in Law by Educational
Attainment O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Bar Year by Partisan Political Activity

Political Activity by Educational Attainment

Sex by City Size . . . . . . . . . . .
Political Activity by City Size . ... .

Strength of Feminism by City Size . .

vi

Page
51

64

67
68
69
72
73

74

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 0 Page
1. Breakdown I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2. Breakdown II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

vii

The material in this project was prepared under Grant
Numbers 73—NI-99-1002 and 73-NI-99-1023 from the Law
Enforcement Assistance Administration, U.S. Department
of Justice. Researchers undertaking such projects under
Government sponsorship are encouraged to eXpress freely
their professional judgment. Therefore, points of view
or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily
represent the official position or policy of the U.S.
Department of Justice.

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Currently, there is a backlog of cases in our

courts as was noted in the Task Force Report: Courts1 and

 

in Howard James' Crisis in the Courts.2 Because a speedy

 

trial is not only guaranteed by our Constitution but is also
necessary to insure justice by producing evidence that is
fresh, this backlog of cases has become a major concern to
all who must use the courts.

One way in which this backlog can be reduced, out-
side of preventing more crime, is to increase the number of
courts. Increasing the number of courts creates the prob-
lem of finding qualified personnel to run them. As a judge
carries the great responsibility of decision making in our
court system, that office should have high standards of
legal knowledge, experience, and ethical behavior. These
standards make a judgeship difficult to fill as the pool of

qualified potential candidates is limited.

 

1The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and
Administration of Justice, Task Force Report: The Courts
(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1973), p. 31.

2Howard James, Crisis in the Courts (New York:
David McKay Co., Inc., 1971), P. 20.

 

l

Where can we find enough trained and experienced
people to fill our judicial posts and at the same time
maintain, if not increase, the required standards of
knowledge and ethics? Since only 3 percent of our judiciary
are women (only 1 percent at the Federal level), this is
one possible group to use as a possible source for more

qualified judges.3
THE PROBLEM

Unfortunately the current group of women judges is
largely unknown. There are no studies attempting to eval-
uate women judges' performances on the bench as to the
quality and quantity of work that they do. But before such
a study could be attempted, some information had to be
gathered on who these women judges are, how they got to their
current positions and where they want to go occupationally.
Therefore, the main problem is a lack of information on
current American women judges with a particularly large gap
in the data on their career ladders. The main thrust of
this study will be to investigate these women and to supply

the missing data.

 

3Alice D. Jacobs, "Women in Law School: Structural
Constraint and Personal Choice in the Formation of Profes-
sional Identity," Journal of Legal Education, XXIV, 4 (1972),
465.

 

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to survey women judges
of all bench levels and all jurisdictions on their back-
grounds with special emphasis on factors affecting their
career decisions. Women judges were also surveyed on their
attitudes toward several controversial issues in the law
such as what should be the legal age of majority and for
what reasons should a judge be removed from office. This
was done to gain some idea of the political and sociological
slant of their judicial thinking which may result from the
position the judge holds on feminism and political activity.

Because the current population of women judges is
less than five hundred persons, it is not an overly large
group to survey.4 By focusing on their career patterns,
the study becomes a manageable size and the material is
kept relevant for later use on research covering judicial
qualifications and performance evaluations. Another factor
that is limiting to the sc0pe of the study is the lack of
previous research on women judges. Prior to this time,
women laywers and women judges were lumped together for
study. Although the subject matter that each occupation
deals with is the same, a different approach and different

techniques are used in performing each job. Therefore, it is

 

4Martin Gruberg, Women in American Politics (Oshkosh,
Wisconsin: Academia Press, 1968), p. 190.

possible that women lawyers and women judges are two dis-
tinct pOpulations. From this it seems reasonable to prepare
information on women judges rather than generally on women
in the law-related fields. This study aims to prepare des—
criptive information rather than do an evaluation on women

judges' performances on the bench.
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

The lack of information on working women who are in
highly responsible positions creates a significant problem
to research for several reasons. First, there is a greater
interest in the American working woman today due to the
feminist movement and its efforts to help women achieve
equal Opportunity in the area of employment. One of the
main thrusts of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment is to
create definitive law against job discrimination. This study,
by examining women who have succeeded occupationally, adds
to the increasing number of studies on women professionals
and may encourage qualified women to enter the judiciary.

Secondly, there have been some reports done on women
doing work in other parts of the criminal justice system.5

The most active writer in the area of women judges has been

 

5Gordon Atcheson, "Police Women Walk the Beat Suc-
cessfully in Ann Arbor," Detroit Free Press, May 27, 1974,
p. 16A; "Study Finds Women COpS Equal to Men," Detroit Free
Press, May 20, 1974, p. 14A.

Doris Sassower, with most of her articles having been pub-
lished in the last three years.6 This one researcher can
not fill the gap in the study of our women judges. It
therefore appears necessary to gather more information on
women judges, especially as judges as a group hold so much
power and have such a large impact on policy in criminal
justice. This brings up the third reason for the importance
of this study. Although women judges are a small population,
it is a critical one to the efficient running of our courts.
On several of the questionnaires that the women judges
returned, they mentioned that they got their posts because
no qualified men would take the job because of the low sal-
ary.- This small group of women judges has great potential
for growth as there has been a large increase in the num-
ber of women attending law school in the last five years.
With more women lawyers available to seek a judgeship, it

is likely that some of them will reach the bench.

Fourthly, more people are receiving a higher educa-
tion. There are more people with the necessary training to
be a judge. Many states have done away with the justice of
the peace system, as Michigan did in its new constitution

in 1963, and have instituted a requirement of a law degree

 

6Doris Sassower, "women and the Law: The Second
Hundred Years," American Bar Association Journal, LVII
(April, 1971), 329; "Women and the Judiciary: Undoing the
Law of the Creator," Judicature, LVII (February, 1974),
282—88.

 

to be a judge. This was also necessary because of the
increasing complexity of some sections of the law. Since
many women already meet the requirements and more are
seeking to meet these requirements, it becomes more likely
that the population of women judges will grow. It is
important to know where these women came from educationally
and where they received their legal experience so that the
most qualified can be chosen to serve on the bench.
Finally, this study, because it deals with some
highly personal data, can indicate difficulties in collect-
ing information from women who are public figures. Women
public officials could have a different attitude towards
the media's probing into their private lives than do male

public officials.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

There is no theory as to why certain women become
judges, just as there is little study done on why women
'become'lawyers. The focus of most studies in this area
is why most women do not enter these fields. So we are
left with a set of myths and stereotypes as to who these
women are and what motivated them to enter the legal pro-
fession. Because there are no studies on the motivational
factors for a woman judge, those for a woman lawyer will be

explored and extrapolated where applicable to the case of

women judges.

"In our country we have been very wasteful. We have
accomplished what we have by sheer good luck, despite our
extravagance. Our problem is how we can put to work the
potential that is woman."7 This potential is increasing
as more women receive a higher education. It is interest-
ing to note that during a period of manpower shortage, as
in World War II, women were encouraged to fill the gap but
that after the veterans returned, women were encouraged to
once again become homemakers so that men could take the
women's old jobs. Now there would be a gap in the number
of qualified and experienced men to serve as judges if more
judgeships were created to prevent case backlog, but women
are not encouraged to enter the field. Even with the
recent increased number of lawyers, there would still be a
judicial manpower gap as the qualifications for a lawyer
are not the same as the qualifications for a judge. Yet
some women have succeeded in the judiciary.

Of course, a woman can become a doctor, a senator,

or a business executive. Exceptional women have
always escaped society's restrictions. The point

is the exceptional quality of the achievement and

the requisite struggles against normal life patterns.
Women as a class are not really free to become doctors,

senators or business executives. They are not expected
or encouraged to achieve in this fashion, and indeed

 

 

7Martha Stuart and William T. Liu (eds.), The
Emerging Woman: The Impact of Family Planning (Boston:
Little, Brown & Co., 1970), p. 64.

 

are actively hindered from doing so. . . . We live
in a male dominated society.8

The same could be said for the office of judge. This
points out that women on the bench are the exception and
not the rule and that it is reasonable to assume that these
women have had to display some exceptional qualities or
skill to reach the bench.

"Women are traditionally thought to be too ideal-
istic and fragile to survive in the rugged and competitive
legal business world. Research has disproved this myth."9
It has become common thought that law is a study for men.
Whether this is because men are considered logical while
women are viewed as emotional beings has not been deter-
mined but that seems a likely reason. In an article on
Lorna Lockwood, associate justice of the Arizona Supreme
Court, her fellow justices said of her, "[Lorna] has all of
the qualities that make a great judge. She has overcome

10

the emotional reaction common to many women." Yet

Justice E. Harris Drew in 1944 noted,

 

8Jean Murphy and Susan Deller Ross, "Liberating
WOmen--Legally Speaking," With Justice for Some, ed. Bruce
Wasserstein and Mark J. Green (Boston: Beacon Press, 1970),
p. 105.

 

9Janette Barnes, "Women and Entrance to the Legal
Profession," Journal of Legal Education, XXIII (1970), 289.

10"Bias Lingers as Women Lawyers Seek New Heights,"
Detroit Free Press, July 2, 1967, p. l-C.

 

 

Flexibility, tact, intuition, understanding of people
are as valuable in the practice of law as the so-
called legal logic. This leads to the conclusion,
startling to many, that feminine attributes rather
than masculine, are impgrtant in the high task of
administering justice.

I would not go so far as Justice Drew in saying that femi-

nine attributes are the important ones in administering

justice. Rather Margaret Mead's comment that cultural

and not biologic differences between men and women are

what count shows that our delineation of law as men's work

is superficial and nonfunctional.

Finally, if a woman does enter the law, she is
generally encouraged to specialize in areas 0f women's tra-
ditional concerns such as trusts and estates, real estate,
domestic relations and juvenile law. These legal special-
ties reflect what has been women's domain of home and fam-
ily. This points out why it seems startling to find a
woman in such a practice as criminal defense. In an
exchange between Recorder's Court (criminal court of Detroit)
Judge Susan Borman and a male prosecutor, when asked "Why
does a woman want to do all this dirty work?" Judge Borman
answered, "For the same reasons you do!"12 Also women end

up doing the legal work that men to not want to do because

it is less rewarding financially or has low status. Such

 

llIbid.

12"Meet Susan Borman--Profile of a Judge-Elect,"
Detroit Free Press, November 17, 1972, p. l-C.

 

10

areas are legal librarianship and poverty law. ". . . When
firms are looking specifically for a woman lawyer, they

probably want to hire a woman to do work that they are

unable to find a man to do."13

Women do not try to attain high office, either
because they are unaware of possibilities open to them,
or because they are reluctant to strain traditional
social patterns and attitudes. Men's failure to
appreciate women's leadership abilities is also a
factor.14

As we have seen, most prospective career women
were restricted to "female" occupations and did not
enter male-dominated fields. . . . And when females
did enter male-dominated fields, unequal pay and
inadequate promotional opportunities discouraged them
from staying. . . .

Perhaps the law is not more frequently chosen
as a career by women because there is little in
literature which makes the woman lawyer an appeal-
ing figure.16
With all of this going against them, it is not so
much a wonder that so few women enter the law as it is a
wonder that a woman would ever attempt it at all.

What do women have to encourage them to enter the

legal profession and to attain the bench? After the push

 

13Barnes, op. cit., p. 295.

14Margaret Mead and Frances Balgley Kaplan (eds.),
American Women: The Report of the President's Commission on
the Status of Women and Other Publications of the Commission
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1965), p. 158.

15William Henry Chafe, The American Woman:rHer Chang-
ing Social, Economic and Politicaljgoles, 1920—1970 (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1972), pp. 90, 100.

l6Lois G. Forer, "Whither Women in the United States,"
Women Lawyers' Journal, 1 (Winter, 1967), 4.

11

for suffrage had succeeded, the women's movement failed to
maintain its momentum expecially since no other "women's
issue" surfaced to serve as a focal point. Too much had
been expected of the use of the ballot as no female voting
block formed. The 19305 were overshadowed by the Depres-
sion and the 19405 used up the nation's energy in a war.
Surprisingly, the culture of the 19505 taught there was
no better alternative for women than being a housewife,
as evidenced by the glorification of the housewife in women's
magazines. But within a period of ten years the black move—
ment and the women's movement started to gain momentum and
achieved legislative results.
From the earliest days, the emancipation of women
and the Negro slave have been linked. Myths to per-
petuate male superiority, also perpetuated white
superiority. . . . Because of these common myths
the cause of the Negro and the woman are inextricably
linked and this has led to the growth in the United
States of women's liberation movements, to some extent
modeled in methods and organization u on the civil
rights movements of the early 1960's. 7
But if the strength of women's liberation for women and the
civil rights movement for Negroes was as powerful as some
say, then Sheldon Goldman would not be able to say, "There
is little doubt that black Americans and women are severely

underrepresented at all levels of the judiciary."18

 

l7Barnes, 0p. cit., p. 278.

18Sheldon Goldman, "American Judges," Current
History, LXI (July, 1971), 6.

12

Much of this theoretical framework is based on
studies of women lawyers who constitute a distinct popula-
tion from women judges. Even though both groups study the
same material but use it differently, some of the material
on women lawyers can be applied to women judges, for,

"As more women enter the legal profession, more will be
qualified to assume the duties of the bench in all realms
of trial work."19

In summary, this study Operates within a framework
of myths and stereotyping of women in the work force, in
the law and in the judiciary. (Women constitute 38 percent
of the American work force, 3.5 percent of all lawyers are
women and 3 percent of all judges are women in 1972.20).

The aim of the study is to show what parts of the framework
hold true for existing women judges and what parts are false.

It is also evident that much of this framework rests on the

philosophy of the current feminist movement.
THE HYPOTHESIS

Although this is a descriptive study of who are the
. currentAmerican women judges, with emphasis on their career
ladders, several questions on the questionnaire were more

important because they were intended to gather information

 

19Forer, op. cit., p. 23.

20Jacobs, "Women in Law School," p. 465.

13

that would test several hypotheses. Before sending out the
questionnaire a "typical woman judge model" was designed
by the researcher to fit the averages of the American work-
ing woman as found in census statistics.

The typical woman judge was expected to be fifty-
five years old, with both parents working while she was
growing up, her mother being a teacher and her father being
an attorney. She would be the first-born child with one
brother and two sisters. She would be married. Probably
the judge would have a law degree and her family paid her
way through school. She would have been admitted to the bar
in 1944 (because women had to fill the manpower gap and the
empty university seats during the war) and she entered the
legal profession because of family involvement or a desire
to serve. Before ascending to the bench she would have
worked for a government agency, practiced law by herself or
with a family member. The main types of cases she handled
would be trusts, domestic relations or juveniles. She
would have ascended to the bench in 1970 and would not have
been promoted, and would also be in her second term of four
years. Most likely she was appointed to fill an unexpired
term and she presides in a large, liberal urban area. The
judge would be on a local bench, most likely a probate court,
with service again her reason for her occupation. The model
would have been surveyed as a woman and as a judge but not

as a woman judge, and would have had a newspaper article

14

written about her. Politically she would have been active
doing such low-status activities as ringing doorbells and
mailing leaflets. She would have found her political
activity helpful as it brought her to the attention of the
appointers but she would not think such activity a pre-
requisite to a judgeship. The typical woman judge was
expected to have received some service award, to attend
courses for the judiciary and professional meetings. Her
memberships would include the local and national bar asso-
ciations, a church, a service group such as the Red Cross,
a social group such as a country club and some parental
group like the PTA. Although the model might see some per-
sonal risk in being a judge, such as threatening letters

or attacks on her person, she would take no precautions.
There would not be a convenient women's legal association
for her to join and she would not be participating in the
feminist movement because it is not accepted by a large seg-
ment of the population. Also the woman judge would be
careful not to appear to be prejudiced sexually and so
would shy from formal feministic activities. She would not
think it proper for a person in her position to advocate
either more women lawyers or more women judges. In the past
three years she would have found more women plaintiffs in
civil cases and more women defendants in criminal cases
because of women's increased involvement in the affairs of

business. She would not feel that she has an equal chance

15

of advancement in the judicial hierarchy because of sexual
and political barriers and she plans to remain on the same
bench until she retires at sixty-five. On legal issues,
whe would believe the male age of majority should be
eighteen and the same for the female age of majority. The
model judge would feel appointment is the best method of
judicial selection as that is how she made it to the bench.
Misuse of judicial office and private misconduct would be
her reasons for removing a judge, while the best length of
judicial term would berour years. Breakdown of the family,
permissiveness and alcohol would be viewed as the main causes
of crime. The model judge would believe that a judge should
reflect community values a great deal when sentencing. In
ranking purposes of sentencing she would say: reformation,
individual deterrence, general deterrence, punishment and
incapacitation. She would list information about offenders
as: criminal record, family background, ties in the commu-
nity, use of alcohol and drugs, employment record, marital
status, mental condition, intelligence and attitude to
rehabilitation. Finally on information about the offense
she would say: planning and premeditation, degree of per-
sonal injury or violence, culpability in other respects,
damage or loss of property and offender's present attitude
to the offense.

While no single judge was expected to match this

model, the averages from all the questionnaires were expected

16

to approximate the above description designed by the
researcher. It must be noted that this model fits within
the myths and stereotypes of the theoretical framework and
was partially created by a pattern set by Florence E. Allen.
Therefore, one aim of the study is to see how close myth
and reality are. .
Next, by focusing on career ladders certain factors
become more important and they are tested by the following
hypotheses.
I. There will be a significant drop in the number of
women judges between the ages of forty-nine and
fifty-nine (they were in the prime occupational

movement group in the 19505).

II. More often than not, women judges had a family
involvement in the legal profession.

III. Women judges participated in politics to only a
minor degree before ascending to the bench.

IV. Women judges handled "women's law" as lawyers and
continued to specialize in this area while on the
bench.

V. Women judges are more likely to preside in large,
liberal, urban areas.

VI. Women judges do not help other women ascend to the
bench by participating in the formal activities of
the feminist movement.

These six hypotheses focus on the factors of age,
motivation, politics, city size and feminism. Attitudinal
questions such as the causes of crime could serve as indi-

cators of women judges' orientations to controversial legal

topics.

17

The first hypothesis expects fewer women judges
between the ages of fortyunine and fifty-nine because these
women were in the prime occupational moving age during the
19505. This period has been categorized as a time of
societal repression of many women's desires to join the work
force. Following this categorization, the women of these
ages would have been pushed by society to not pursue their
careers so that there were fewer women of this age group
available to serve as judges.

The high family involvement in law was expected as
this could be the motivational factor that enabled women
to fight the discrimination against their entering the law
and especially in gaining admittance to law school. Family
involvement could also have stirred an academic interest in
the law as well as serving as an emotional supportive system
for these women during their difficult years of law school.
Finally family involvement may have provided role models of
lawyers.

The third hypothesis tests political activity. It
aims at discovering whether there is any truth in the assump—
tion that women lawyers can not take the hard knocks of
campaigning and so participate little in partisan politics,
or if there are other societal reasons for few women being
in politics. This necessitates their being appointed to the

bench if they are ever going to make it into the judiciary.

18

The hypothesis on areas of women lawyers' and
judges' specialization is to test if women really do take
the path of least resistance and enter a legal area where
they would be more welcome, where they have a "natural
interest" because of the experiences of home life, or if
women are pushed into the probate area of the judiciary.

The fifth hypothesis works on the assumption that
only in the more liberal areas could a women be allowed on
the bench due to a rural bias against women authority fig-
ures. More women judges should also occur in urban areas
because these places have more qualified women to choose
from.

Finally, one concern of the feminist movement is
that women seem to be their own worst enemies as far as
gaining occupational equality for as once a woman makes it
into a position of high responsibility and pay, she does
not assist other women to achieve the same goal. In the
opinion of the author participation in the formal feminist
movement was the most objectively measurable form of assis-
tance offered by the women judges to other women. Therefore,
it was used to test the sixth hypothesis. Also advocacy of
more women in the legal profession and in judgeships was
used as a further indicator of women's possible use of the
issue of feminism as a career ladder.

From these hypotheses, it can be noted that the

focus was on age, education, city size, politics and feminism.

19

Age is Viewed as an independent variable and therefore it
should be evenly spread across the other variables. It is
quantitatively measurable but for convenience the ages
were grouped into pre-l9505, a 19505 group and post-19505.
The choice of what ages to put into these groups, although
somewhat arbitrary, was aiming at grouping the women
together who were at the prime occupational movement period
during a time when society was not supportive of women
working, especially in the professions. The possible errors
involved in grouping these women as such is whether the
twenty-four through thirty-five age group is the prime occu-
pational movement time for women and the possibility that
while some women may have not made their move in the 19505,
they did so in the early 19605 and have worked hard to make
up for lost time, which would have counteracted the societal
effect of the 19505. Another error may have resulted in the
dying or retiring of members of the pre-19505 group so that
it is not a representative sample or that the sample could
be too small to really mean anything. The only way to have
corrected this error would be to do a study over a long
period of time and note the temperal changes. These problems
can be serious enough to prevent any distinguishable differ-
ence between the groups from being detected.

City size was also felt to be an independent variable
and was measured quantitatively. There was no information

available to lead one to believe that persons from cities of

20

various sizes would be more or less likely to answer and
return a questionnaire.

Education was felt to be a dependent variable with
age and city size being the independent variables from which
changes in educational level resulted. The dependence was
expected to be in the form of the younger the judge, the
higher the educational level. There was the problem of
judges being so young that they have not had the time to
complete or further their legal education. City size was
expected to affect educational level by the larger the city
size, the higher the educational attainment. This was
anticipated because of the ability of cities to attract more
highly educated talent through better pay and a greater
variety of positions. But another problem Occurs here when
age and city size work against each other for in the case
of a young rural judge, she would be unlikely to have a
law degree. This problem, though, is balanced out in some
measure where age and city size work together, such as in
the case of Judge Susan Borman of the Detroit Recorder's
Court, who is young (thirty-three) and presides in a large
urban area. Her educational level is a law degree.

Political activity is a dependent variable with
age, city size, and education as its independent variables.

Political activity was measured qualitatively on the basis

 

of a judge's answers to three questions concerning her par-

tisan activities: what she did politically, how it affected

21

her ascending to the bench and how necessary she felt that
it was for gaining a judgeship. Although the classifications
of political activity of low, medium and high are arbitrary,
certain activities were necessary to be placed in the higher
categories. LOw-status participation was categorized by
activity in many campaigns but not in work concerning policy
or making major decisions. Medium-status political activity
was viewed as activity in several campaigns with a position
that necessitated deciding policy. High-status political
activity included participation in many campaigns as either
a campaign manager or with the judges themselves running for
an office other than their judgeship. This set of standards
does create a problem in that making decisions for a gover-
nor's campaign is of a higher political status than is run-
ning for library commissioner of a rural township. In such
cases of nondefinite status of political activity or in
borderline cases the judgment of the coder was used.

Finally feminism was viewed as a dependent variable
with age, city size and educational level as its controlling
factors. The younger the judge, the larger the city and the
higher the educational attainment, the more profeminism the
judge was expected to be. But again a question of measure-
ment develops in that the three factors can work against
each other as in the case of a seventy-seven year old judge
from a large city and holding a law degree who was very

profeminism. The categories of strength of feminism were

22

set up in a manner similar to the evaluation on political
activity. The standards were along these lines: low par-
ticipation was either just joining an organization or con—
tributing money. These are activities that can be done with
little real effort. Medium participation involved joining
organizations, writing letters to support ERA and contribut-
ing money. These show a little more effort but do not put
the individual's name on the line as being a feminist. High
participation included joining organizations, contributing
money and personally working for the feminist movement such
as testifying before legislative committees for ERA. This
showed a personal involvement in the feminist movement and
a willingness to go on public record as being in support of
women's issues. There is one problem here in that there
are so many ways to support the feminist movement that it
is difficult to judge the relative strength of each activity.
In summary, with these six hypotheses and the general
background data on the women judges, their career ladders
were examined with the intent of discovering if there was
some major pattern to attaining and maintaining judgeships

by females in the United States.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Women judge: Any female who holds the position

 

titled magistrate, judge, or justice whether by election or

appointment at local, state and federal levels. This does

23

not include hearing board commissioners, contract arbitra-
tors, referees nor justices of the peace.

Legal training and experience: This term refers to
law school, private and/or public practice as an attorney
and counselor.

Judicial training and experience: This term includes
special courses and professional meetings for the judiciary,
and time spent on the bench and in administrating the court.
Note: A distinction will be made at all times between the
legal and judicial occupations even though they are related
insubject matter.

Career determinant: This term means any psychologi-
cal, sociological, legal or economic factor that worked for
or against any person in attaining their lifetime occupa-

tion.

CHAPTER II
SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

This study has historical foundations in the women's
movement. With increased emphasis placed on the role of the
American working woman and the use of the law to help her
achieve equal opportunities in employment, an increase in
women's interest in entering the legal field followed. But
as yet, the numbers of women practicing law and presiding
on the bench are nowhere near proportionate to their numbers
in the United States pOpulation at large.

Legal equality does not existixlthe United States
today; We have thousands of laws which discrimi-
nate against women. In addition our cases are fought
in court by male lawyers (3% of the attorneys are
female) and decided by male judges.1

The women's movement started with a convention at
Seneca Falls in 1849 and peaked with the passage of the
Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Betty Friedan revitalized
the movement in 1963 by founding the National Organization

of Women, which is currently supporting the passage of the

Equal Rights Amendment.

 

lKaren DeCrow, The Young_Woman's Guide to Libera-
tion (New York: Pegasus Publishers, 1971). P. 116.

 

24

25

Paralleling these developments was an increase in
the activity of women lawyers. In 1869 the first woman was
admitted to the bar but the United States Supreme Court
failed to require states to allow women to practice law in
the famous case of Bradwell v. Illinois2 in 1873 by saying
"The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs
to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occu-
pations of civil life [like being a lawyer]. . . ."3 But
by 1920, all states allowed women to practice law and the
American Bar Association permitted female members. Yet
Harvard Law SchOOl did not Open its doors to female students
until the 19505.4 In 1899 the Women Lawyer's Association
was founded and today they publish the Women Lawyers' Journal.
Women as a percentage of all workers in the legal profession
has risen from 1.8 percent in 1948, 2.5 percent in 1951,

2.3 percent in 1954, 2.7 percent in 1957, 2.6 percent in
1960, and 2.7 percent again in 1963.5 This last figure

translates into there being 7,143 women lawyers out of

almost 300,000 practitioners. In 1970, out of 355,242 lawyers

 

283 U.S. (16 Wall.) 130 (1873).

31bid., p. 140.

4Barnes, "Women and Entrance,‘ p. 277.

5James J. White, "Women in the Law," Michigan Law
Review, LXV (April, 1967), 1051.

26

only 9,103 were women.6 These numbers do not favorably
compare with such countries as the Soviet Union where 30 to
40 percent of the legal practitioners are women.7 It must
be noted, however, that the practice of law does not carry
as high a status in the Soviet Union as it does in the
United States. Even in the area of teaching law (teaching
being a "feminine" occupation) women hold only fifty-three
positions of instruction out of more than 2,000 at schools
approved by the American Bar Association.8

"We know from experience and reading that most
judges are men. . . ."9 A woman justice of the peace was
first elected in Seattle in 1914 according to Martin
Gruberg.lo He also notes the following historical progres-
sion. New York City's first woman magistrate served from
1919 to 1931. In 1923 Cleveland and Chicago followed suit
and appointed their first women judges. Many such as

Lillian M. WestrOpp of Cleveland were first appointed to

the bench but maintained their positions through election.

 

6American Bar Foundation, 13m: 1971 Lawyer Statis-
tical Report (Chicago: American Bar Foundation, 1971).,

 

7Gruberg, Women in American Politics, p. 76.

 

8Barnes, p. 278.

9Aleta Wallard, "Genesis of a "Women in the Law'
Course: The Dawn of Consciousness at the UCLA Law School,"
Journal of Legal Education, XXIV, p. 311.

10

 

Gruberg, pp. 294-96.

27

Calvin Coolidge became the first president to appoint a
woman to the Federal bench when he placed Genevieve R. Cline

11 In 1922 Florence E.

on the U.S. Customs Court in 1928.
Allen of Ohio became the first woman elected to a state
Supreme Court. In 1934 Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her
to the highest Federal judiciary post attained by a woman
when she was elevated to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals,
in which she later served as chief justice. To date no
woman has even been nominated to the United States Supreme
Court. Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark said in 1962, "Out
of the ninety-three persons who have sat on the Supreme
Court, not one yet has been a woman, too bad, for they
always have the last word except here, where the last word
'really counts."12
From the above-noted statistics, it is obvious that

the number of women entering the legal profession and becom-
ing available for judgeships is increasing as the women's
movement gains momentum. But as Janette Barnes says,

There is no doubt that women are experiencing and have

experienced discrimination on the grounds of sex in

the legal profession. They have been accepted, in

many cases grudgingly, to fulfill specialized needs
within the profession. There is a good deal of

 

llMaurine H. Abernathy, "Women Judges in the United
States Courts," Women Lawyers' Journal, LV (Spring, 1969),
57-58.

12Gruberg, p. 151.

28

evidence to suggest that they have not in many cases
been accepted as full and equal members of the pro-
fession.l

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH

Justice E. Harris Drew said, "Feminine attributes
rather than masculine are important in the high task of
the administration of justice."14 Yet Leona E. Tyler in

The Psychology of Human Differences15 and Eleanor Maccoby

 

in The Development of Sex Differences16 suggest that men and

 

women do not significantly differ in such qualities as
intelligence, conscientiousness, impartiality, patience
and courtesy, which are all listed in the American Bar
Association's canons of judicial ethics which state what a
judge should be.

From the 1972 American Association of Law Students
Questionnaire on Women in Legal Education it was discovered
that 16 percent of the 1972 law students were women while in

1970 only 7.8 percent of these students were women.17 The

 

l3Barnes, p. 297.

14Gruberg, p. 295.

15Leona E. Tyler, The Psychology of Human Differences
(New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1956), pp. 73-246.

16Eleanor Maccoby, The Development of Sex Differences
(Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1965).

17Shirley Raissi Bysiecuricz, "1972 AALS Question-
naire on Women in Legal Education," Journal of Legal Educa-
tion, XXV (1973), 503- 13.

 

 

29

number of female applicants to law school has risen fourteen
times since 1969, while the increase for the total number
of applicants has risen only three times.18 There was no
significant difference between the number of men and women
dropping out of law school and their reasons for doing so
were similar. Also 8 percent of the law professors and
deans are now women, which is double the figure of 1970.19
The most authoritative research done on women in
the law was conducted by Professor James J. White of the
University of Michigan in 1966.20 Dr. White used income
as his major factor in discussing the career of women lawyers
as compared to men lawyers.“ He found that women earn sig-
nificantly less than men of comparable schooling and exper-
ience, controlling for the type of employer.21 He also
found no data to suggest that women were either intellec-
tually nor emotionally unsuitable to practice law.22 Nor
did he find women collecting in groups specializing in areas
23

of "women's law" such as juvenile, trusts and estates.

From his findings, Dr. White advocated the removal of

 

18Ibid.

lgIbid.

20White, "Women in the Law," pp. 1051-1122.

211bid., p. 1055.

221bid., p. 1088.

23Ibid., p. 1062.

30

nonfunctional discrimination against women who wish to study
and practice law.

Janette Barnes wrote an article discussing the dif-
ficulty women have in entering the legal profession.24 She
focused on the cultural factors that discouraged women from
getting a legal education. She also discussed the barriers
women law graduates have to face in being placed in law
firms.

In 1973, The American Bar Foundation published a
supplement to their 1971 Lawyer Statistical Report on the
number of women lawyers and women judges by city size and

25

level of bench. MOSt notable was the lack of women on

the Federal bench. Doris Sassower has written extensively
"on women in the law, with emphasis on their current status.26
She predicted more involvement by women in all aspects of
legal work in the second hundred years since women were

admitted to the bar.27 Beatrice Dinerman noted in her

article, "Sex Discrimination in the Legal Profession," that

 

24Barnes, pp. 276-308.

25Martha Grossblat and Bette H. Sikes (eds.), "Women
Lawyers: Supplementary Data to the 1971 Lawyers Statistical
Report" (Chicagog, American Bar Foundation, 1973), Table 18.

26Doris Sassower, "Role of Lawyers in Women's Lib,"
Case and Comment, LXXVI (May, 1971), 9-18.

27

 

SasSower, "Women and the Law," p. 329.

31

women lawyers are given conflicting behavioral demands and
so women attorneys turn to governmental agencies after
being rebuffed by private firms.28
More specifically on the subject of women judges,
Doris Sassower writes about the underrepresentation of
women on the bench.29 But she does note an increase in
the number of women lawyers and judges. Unfortunately the
women judges are concentrated in the lower bench levels.
In a pamphlet put out by the Alpha Kappa Alpha
sorority, Negro women in the judiciary are highlighted.30
But the purpose of this publication was more to encourage
Negro girls not to be discouraged by discrimination against
their race rather than against their sex. Sometimes the
'WOmen Lawyers' Journal publishes biographies of prominent
women judges but has not put out a great deal of informa-
tion of the women judges as a group. Maurine Abernathy did
write an article for that journal calling for the National
Association of Women Lawyers to begin a drive for more women

in the judiciary.31

 

28Beatrice Dinerman, "Sex Discrimination in the Legal
Profession," American Bar Association Journal, October,
1969, pp. 77-89.

29

 

Sassower, "Women and the Judiciary," pp. 282-88.

30Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Negro Women in the
Judiciary (Chicago: Alpha Kappa Alpha, 1968.

31

 

 

Abernathy, p. 58.

32

From this listing it is evident that research is
needed on women lawyers and more especially on American
women judges for most of the information consists Of indi-
vidual biographies or historical studies with no emphasis

on just the backgrounds and/or career ladders of women in

law as a group.

CHAPTER III
DESIGN OF THE STUDY

According to Martin Gruberg, there are approxi-
mately three hundred women judges in the United States.1
Because the total population was so small, it was decided
that all members of the pOpulation should be used in the
study.

Because of the size of the population and the fact
that they are spread nationwide, a mailed questionnaire
seemed to be the most efficient way of gathering data.
Mailing a questionnaire does restrict the amount of data
Uthat can be collected and its depth. Therefore, interviews
were conducted to supplement the questionnaires. The inter-
views were restricted to Michigan women judges and the indi-
viduals were selected so that they represented a cross-
section of bench levels and a geographical cross-section of
the state.

As the entire pOpulation was used, no pilot study
was tried, nor were any sampling procedures necessary. The
results are applicable to all current women judges. This is

not the case with the interviews. As only Michigan judges

 

lGruberg, WOmen in American Politics, p. 190.

33

34

were used, due to distance limitations, their comments can
only apply to a small section of women judges. Also as
the interview judges were not selected randomly, there is

some researcher bias.
DETERMIN ING THE POPULAT ION

There is no nationwide listing of judges. There-
fore a letter was sent to each state bar association request—
ing that they send a list of women judges who were presiding
in their state. The researcher's definition of who was
considered to bea woman judge was included in the letter
to insure that only the desired classifications of women
were listed. All but eleven states responded. A second
'1etter was sent to the court administrators of each of the
eleven nonresponding states requesting a list of women
judges. Only Massachusetts, Delaware and New Mexico failed
to respond.

While several states sent lists of only their women
judges or circled their names on lists, other states sent a
list of all of their judges and it was necessary to pick
out the women judges from these lists. While some women
judges were readily identifiable by their names or by their
being listed as "Mrs.," others were not so easily found.

If only initials were given it was assumed to be a man. In
cases where the name could have been either a man's or a

woman's name, it was assumed to be a woman. This created

35

a problem as fourteen questionnaires were returned by male
judges saying that the questionnaire did not apply to them.
It is highly likely that other male judges received a.
questionnaire tar this mistake in names and did not bother
to return it. Another limitation of this method of deter-
mining the population was that women judges were missed
because they could not be identified from the lists. Also
it is possible that other women judges were missed because
they ascended to the bench so recently that the lists were
out of date. As there is not a high turnover in the judi-
ciary, the above should-not have been a significant problem.

By using the above procedure, names from forty-seven
states and Washington, D.C., formed the list. Four hundred
and thirty questionnaires were sent out. While this number
is considerably larger than Gruberg's three hundred, it was
still a manageable number for a mailed questionnaire type
of survey. As the possible errors in getting the names
appear to be minor, the population used for the study seems
to be representative of the total population of American

women judges.
PREPARING THE QUESTIONNAIRE

The questionnaire was limited to fifty questions.
It was assumed that taking one-half minute per question would
make it possible for the questionnaire to be completed in

under one-half hour. In its final form the questionnaire

36

consisted of forty-three questions, although some of the
questions had multiple parts.

Because not much is known about women judges'
career patterns, a wide range of questions was necessary
so that important factors were not excluded by omission of
a question pertaining to it. Both multiple choice and Open-
ended questions were needed so as to let the judges freely
express themselves while keeping the data in a manageable
form. The final question was used to allow the judges to
make any comments they had on the questionnaire or the study,
to more fully explain any of their answers or to explain any
aspect of their job not touched on by the questionnaire.

The questionnaire was sent out with a cover letter
explaining the purpose of the study and informing the judges
that the information received would remain confidential.
Actually the questionnaires were anonymous unless the judges
chose to sign their names or otherwise indicate who they
were.

The first section of the questionnaire dealt with the
judges' personal lives and history. Questions were put so
that the events discussed would be in chronological order
of their happening in the judges' lives. The first question
was their age. This was important because it was used to
determine if there was a change in career ladders in recent
years. The next two questions dealt with the employment of

their mothers and their fathers during the years that the

37

judges were growing up. These questions showed whether a
working mother may have influenced her daughter by example
to work and the father's occupation was somewhat indica-
tive of the family's social status, which could affect a
daughter's working and/or going to college. The fourth
question was whether a family member was in the legal pro-
fession. This helped determine if family involvement in
the law was an influence on the daughter's going into law.
The next question was on birth order. This related to
whether being the oldest may have influenced the women on
their achievement needs and expectations. Following that
was a questiOn on the number of brothers and sisters the
judges had while growing up. This showed whether the judges
'came from smaller families and if other members of their
families entered the law, again indicating the strength of
family influence in a choice of a career. Marital status
was next and this noted whether the women have been able
to successfully combine a career with the societal expecta-
tion that they be married.

The next group of questions focused on the judges'
legal training. Question eight asked them to list their
degrees and the colleges where they earned their degrees.
This was a vital question as it pointed out who were lay
judges and who were lawyers. This information was used in
comparing the two groups to see if they held significantly

different views on the law and on women's place in the law.

38

The next question was how each had financed her education.
This showed their social status again and was compared to
the method in which they chose to use their degree to earn
a living. The tenth question was the year that they were
admitted to the bar to see if there was any particular time
that women judges did or did not go into the law. The next
question was on their reasons for entering the legal pro-
fession. These were compared to the stereotype of women
entering the law to serve humanity rather than to make money.
Following this was a question on the type of work they did
before ascending to the bench. ‘This was intended to dis-
cover if any type of agency was serving to promote more
women to the bench. Then the types of cases that they
mainly handled showed whether women gravitated to the
"women's area of law" (i.e. juvenile and probate work,
trusts and real estate). This section showed the researcher's
assumption in expecting most of the women judges to be law-
yers with considerable legal experience.

The following section of questions covered the
judges' judicial experience. First was the year that they
first ascended to their current position followed by the
number of terms that they have served and the length of
those terms. These questions showed if the number of women
judges was increasing and if they were moving up in the
judicial hierarchy. They also show how long the women

judges have held their posts which has an effect on the

39

impact that these women have made. Question eighteen was on
how they first ascended to the bench. This was to point
out if women had a larger percentage of appointments to the
bench than men did. The size of the community they preside
in was next, to see if there was any rural bias against
women judges. Question twenty was on their bench level

and jurisdiction. This was meant to show if women were
judges but were not making it to the higher positions in
the judiciary, or if they were specializing in such areas
as probate court. Finally the judges were asked to list
their reasons for serving on the bench. This checked if
the women viewed the bench as a promotion and what their
motivation was for becoming a judge.

The fourth section of questions was on the women
judges' political involvement. This section started with
whether they had ever been surveyed as a woman, as a judge,
as a woman judge and whether there had ever been a news-
paper article written about them. This was an indicator of
how much peOple were aware of a particular individual judge.
The next question was on the extent of their participation
in partisan political activity before ascending to the
bench. As politics is one way to reach the bench, this
indicated how often these women judges had used it. The
next two questions dealt with whether the women judges felt
partisan politics had affected their ascension to the bench

and whether they felt it was necessary for a judgeship.

40

These were to see if the women judges were aware of other
ladders to the bench and whether they had considered another
way to gain the exposure necessary to become a judge.

The next group of questions was used to judge how
involved in other activities (besides serving on the bench)
each woman was. .The first question asked for awards for
professional achievement while the next question was on
professional activities. The last two questions were on
memberships and officerships in both professional and non-
professional groups.

The thirtieth question was on personal risks from
being a judge that they perceived and what precautions they
took. This served to slightly indicate how secure each
judge felt and also to show how a judge felt some defendants
perceived the judge.

The next four questions focused on the women judges'
feministic attitudes. The first question asked if there was
a women's legal association for them to belong to and if
they did belong. This was to note if the rural atmosphere
had any effect on their feministic beliefs by limiting the
number of feministic activities. Question thirty-two was
on what feministic activities they have participated in.
From this the strength of their feminism could be gauged.
Next, the judges were asked if they would advocate having
more women lawyers and more women judges. This served as a

minor indication of how willing the judges would be to help

41

other women reach the bench. The last question was on
whether the judge had noticed an increase in the number of
women plaintiffs in civil cases and the number of women
defendants in criminal cases over the last three years.
This was to see if the judges perceive that there are more
women using the courts today.

Question thirty—five asked if the women judges felt
that they had equal promotional opportunities and if not
what the barriers were. The next question asked what their
future occupational plans were. These two questions com—
bined are indicators of what the women judges View as their
future career ladders or if they even want any future work.

The last seven questions dealt with the judges'
opinions on several controversial issues in the law. The
first was on what they felt should be the male age of
majority and the female age of majority. This was a slight
indicator of their View on feminism. Next was how they
felt judges should be selected and this information was
compared to the way each woman herself first reached the
bench. After that the next question asked them to list the
reasons why a judge should be removed from office. Question
forty was what was the Optimum term for a judge to serve.
This was followed by asking them to list the three main
causes of crime. Next was how much should a judge reflect
community values when sentencing. Forty-three was three

lists of factors and each judge was asked to rank them in

42

order of importance to her when sentencing. The three
groups were: purposes Of sentencing, information about
offenders and information about offenses. These questions
indicated how the judge was thinking and expressed the
standards that they try to maintain while performing their
judicial duties. As was noted before, the last page was
left free so that a judge could make clarifications or
comments on the previous information.

One questionnaire was sent to each judge. Included
was a stamped, self—addressed envelope so that it would
cost a judge nothing but a half an hour of her time to do
the questiOnnaire. About two weeks after a questionnaire
was sent out, a reminder postcard was sent to all judges

to encourage participation.
SELECTION OF THE INTERVIEW SUBJECTS

It was decided that an interview was to be used to
get a better feeling for these judges as people. Because
of time and distance limitations only Michigan women judges
were considered for interviews. After looking at the list
of twelve Michigan judges it was decided that five inter-
views were necessary to reach all bench levels.

At the Federal level there was Judge Cornelia G.
Kennedy and Magistrate Barbara Hackett, both in Detroit.
Judge Kennedy granted an interview so the Hon. Barbara

Hackett was not contacted.

43

Fortunately, Michigan is one of the three states to
have a woman sitting on the state supreme court. The Hon.
Mary S. Coleman granted an interview which was invaluable
as there was no other judge of comparable position to be
interviewed. Justice Coleman represented Lansing geo—
graphically.

Both the Hon. Susan D. Borman and the Hon. Geraldine
Bledsoe Ford of the Detroit Recorder's Court were contacted
but neither of them was able to grant an interview. There-
fore it was necessary to have only four interviews to cover
all Of the bench levels. It was even more disappointing
that neither of these judges could give an interview as the
Recorder's Court is concerned solely with criminal cases.

Judge Zoe 8. Burkholz was chosen to be interviewed
as the representative of the three women probate judges in
Michigan. She presides in St. Joseph and represented the
western half of the state.

Judge Marjorie L. Luna and Judge Alice L. Gilbert
were chosen to be interviewed as the state's district court
judges but only Judge Gilbert was able to grant an interview.
She presides in Bloomfield Hills.

There are no women circuit court judges in Michigan,
so only the four interviews were conducted representing the
Federal bench, the state Supreme Court, the Probate courts,
and the District courts. It was important to try to reach

all bench levels to help the information gathered from the

44

interviews apply more generally to the judiciary. As was
noted, special attention was paid to getting judges from
areas around the state other than just from Detroit. This
was done as an attempt to minimize the influence of the

metropolitan area.
THE INTERVIEW FORMAT

The interviews were arranged to last one hour. All
but one were tape recorded. The background of each judge
was researched so that the questions could be phrased so
as to apply to the judge's particular situation and to remove
questions that did not pertain to her. Each interview was
conducted in the judge's own chambers. The same person
' conducted all of the interviews so as to prevent varying
biases from different interviewers.

Each interview began with a short explanation on
the aim of the study and the purpose that the interview was
to serve in the study. Each judge was assured that the
tapes would be used only for the purposes of the study.
During all interruptions to the interview (i.e. telephone
calls) and at the judge's request, the tape recorder was
stopped.

The first question asked was how many years the
judge had sat on the bench. Then they were asked what were
the most influential factors in the choice of their career.

This was done to see if the individual judges were aware of

45

their own career ladders. Next they were asked what were
the most and least gratifying aspects of their work. This
was again to determine the motivational factors in contin-
uing to serve on the bench. They were then asked to des-
cribe their judicial training. While they were answering
this question they generally answered the next one by des-
cribing how they felt their judicial training could have
been improved. Next they were asked if being a woman had
helped or hurt them ascend to the bench. This question
indicated whether the judges saw their sex as a barrier or
not. They were then asked if they saw women judges special-
izing in areas of "women's law." This was to show if they
perceived any difference in the areas of legal interest of
women from those that interest men. They were then asked
why they thought there were so few women judges. The purpose
here was to see if they knew of the barriers to becoming a
judge that other women perceive. They were then asked if
they would encourage their daughter to go into law and if
they saw the number of women judges increasing. Their
answers indicated whether they saw the legal field losing
its sex barriers or not. Each woman was asked what and who
served as their supportive systems and role models in becom-
ing and staying a judge. This was aimed at seeing if the
women perceived outside influences in their career choice

and patterns.

46

Then the tenth question was on what each judge
defined as success and whether they felt that they were
successful. The aim of this question was to see how posi-
tively the judges felt about their roles as judges. Then
the questioning returned to feminist ideas by asking where
more women could be put to work in the criminal justice
system. This supplied information on what areas of the
criminal justice system the judge was familiar with and
served as an indicator of the judge's advocacy of women
working in male-dominated fields. Some of the judges were
then asked what changes they foresaw in the legal system
of the future. Its focus showed how current the judges
were on the technological advances that are available to
them in administering justice. Next the judges were asked
what was the most important choice in their lives. This
highlighted the central orientation of their lives. The
last three questions were used to determine the strength of
satisfaction that each judge felt about her occupation and
her life. The questions were: Are these the best years of
your life, have your experiences met with your expectations,
and knowing what you know now, would you still pursue the
same profession?

The questions were not grouped into personal ques-
tions and feministic questions as was done on the question-
naire. This was done so that each judge could answer a

fairly neutral question and clear her mind before returning

47

to the main thrust of the interview. It was also done to
cut down on boredom from hammering on a topic for a long
period of time. Other questions had been prepared but they
were not used due to a lack of time. Some questions did
not have to be asked of certain judges as they were already
answered by working on another question.

No special training other than complete familiarity
with the questions was necessary as the same interviewer did
all of the interviews. As a tape recorder was used, only.
notes on interesting points were necessary. At the end
of each interview, each judge was given the chance to say
anything she wanted to so as to clarify a previous point or

to comment on the interview.
METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS

This study attempted to reach a widely divergent
population. Therefore the survey method was the most effi-
cient means of data collection. But this method is limited
as to how deeply it can cover a topic so interviews were
conducted to remedy this.

The questionnaire had both quantitative and quali-
tative questions. This sometimes restricted the judges from
giving full explanations of their particular situations.
Also the qualitative information was difficult to code and
involved value judgments on the part of the researcher,

which possibly introduced some bias into the data. The

48

questionnaire did not cover the judge's current family life,
which has considerable bearing on how she conducted her
career. Numerous or sickly children could have necessi-
tated an otherwise qualified woman the giving up of a career.
A husband with a compatible occupation may serve as a sup-
portive career factor.

There were semantic problems in gathering the names
of women judges. Some states renamed the post of justice»
of the peace but left the duties and qualifications nearly
the same. This caused a large segment of the population to
be included when they were not lawyers. The questionnaire
was constructed with the assumption that all the women
judges would hold a law degree. Therefore the results of
the data were skewed because of partially completed ques-
tionnaires. Another problem in getting completed question-
naires was that this study dealt with some personal and
political information that some of the women were reluctant
to divulge.

The questions were in such a form that it was dif-
ficult to structure a continuum from the strength of the
answers. The data would have been in a more useful form
had some of the questions been phrased differently. And
finally, the richness of the qualitative answers and comments
was lost by the coding system used for the computer. The
judges' own words told more about themselves than most

statistics ever could.

CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS OF DATA

The data collected were in many forms. Some data
such as the judges' ages were quantitative while others such
as their reasons for being a judge were qualitative. Also
the interview information was in an unstructured form.
Therefore the methods for handling the data varied with the
type of question.

"First all of the returned questionnaires were skimmed
to see if each contained any usable material. Next all
usable questionnaires were hand tabulated. This was done
to get the basic information about each judge so that it
could be used in a descriptive manner. Even partially
completed questionnaires were used for this. Each judge
was taken strictly on her word so that if the information
appeared to conflict with other answers, the data was.
recorded just as it appeared on the questionnaire. It was
also assumed that the answers that the judges gave were
truthful and accurate. Following this first tabulation,
the questionnaires were also tabulated by relating certain
questions to others. For example when tabulating age, the

groups were also marked as to whether they were lawyers or

49

50

not. This was necessary to provide the information on
whether to accept or reject each of the six hypotheses.
Next, the data were coded and placed on computer
cards. (See Appendix E for the coding system.) Using
the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) by
Norman H. Nie and Dale H. Bent and C. Hadlai Hull, marginals
and cross-tabulations were run on the data. This produced
descriptive data as well as 2 x 2 and other size tables of
cross-tabulations. Two breakdowns were run on the informa-
tion that appeared to be most significant. Data from the
interviews were not coded as it was in a highly qualitative
form. Therefore the information gained was used only to
confirm relations already noticed from the computer print-

OthS .
QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

After all of the names had been collected, 430
questionnaires were sent out to judges in forty-seven states
and Washington, D.C. Those states that did not send names
of women judges were: Massachusetts, Delaware and New
Mexico and were not expected to have so many women judges
that the exclusion of their judges would make the sample
nonrepresentative of the true population. Two hundred and
forty were returned for a 56.5 percent return rate. Only
200 of the 240 returns were usable, which makes for a 46.5

percent use rate. Questionnaires were unusable because they

51

were undeliverable, sent to a male judge or the judge did
not fill it out as they felt it did not apply to them. Even
partially filled out questionnaires were used. The return

rate by region was:

Table 1

Return Rate by Region

 

 

 

Region Number of Responses % of Return
Northeast 49 48.0
Southeast ,4 38 38.0
Midwest ”_ g 22 44.0
South Central 14 56.0
Plain States 35 48.6
Northwest 18 58.0
Southwest 19 41.0

Total 240 56.5

 

There is a 20 percent difference in the return rate between
the highest (Northwest) and the lowest (Southeast). There
is nothing to indicate that those judges in the Southeast
were any busier than those in the Northwest, which would
have kept some of them from answering. One possible reason
for the Southeast's low rate of return is that the women
judges in the Southeast are less likely to hold a law degree
due to there being more justice of the peace systems and
because of this felt that the questionnaire did not apply

to them and so did not answer.

52

Concerning personal background, the women judges'
ages ranged from twenty-seven to seventy-seven, with mean
being 51.8 years old and the modal age being sixty years of
age. Twenty-nine percent were in the pre-19505 group,

34 percent were in the 19505 group and 37 percent were

in the post-19505 group. Only three women failed to list
their ages. Almost one—third of their mothers worked

while the women judges were growing up and 97 percent of the
fathers did so. The most frequent occupation of the mothers
was saleswoman, teacher, secretary and nurse, while their
fathers' main jobs were farmer, attorney, manufacturer and
enginner. Two-thirds of the judges had no family member
that was in the legal profession but of those who did, the
father was most likely to be the one in law. Uncles and
grandfathers were the next most common legal family members.
While no mothers of the judges were lawyers, there was one
grandmother that had been a lawyer. Several judges, by
their listing family members in law, clearly showed that
there had been a long tradition of going into the law from
their family. Similarly, 30 percent of America's black
judges had a family member in the law and father, brother
and uncle were the ones most likely to be listed.1 Almost

one-half (48 percent) of the women judges were first-born

 

. 1"The Black Judge in America: A Statistical Profile,"
Judicature, LVII (June-July, 1973), 24.

 

53

children. Among all of the judges they had 291 sisters and
only 182 brothers while 29 of the judges were only children.
Forty-nine of the judges came from two-children families

and fifty-one came from three-children families, so it appears
that smaller families produced most of the women judges.

The majority of the women (65.7 percent) were married while
12.1 percent were single, 1 percent were separated, 9.6 per-
cent were divorced and 11.6 percent were widowed. Sixty-
three percent of the women judges today hold law degrees
with 27.8 percent having a high school diploma, 7.2 having

a bachelor's degree and 1.5 percent a master's degree. The
percentage of law degrees is expected to increase due to a
sharp rise in the number of women law students. In 1970,
7.8 percent of all law students were women while barely two
years later women constituted 16 percent of all law stu-
dents.2 In 1973, women law students numbered 16,760, which
is a 37.8 percent increase over 1972.3 The study on all the
American black judges found that 2.5 percent had only a high
school education, 1.2 percent had bachelor's degrees and
96.3 percent had law degrees.4 It appears then that black

judges have a higher educational attainment than do the

 

2Bysiecwicz, "1972 AALS Questionnaire," pp. 503-13.

3"Women, Minority Students Up," Michigan State Bar
Journal, LIII (January, 1974), 46.

4

 

"The Black Judge in America," p. 24.

54

women judges. Also Howard University dominated as the
school that produced the most black judges. There was no
one school or group of schools from which these women mainly
received their degrees. Family aid was the most frequent
method of financing their schooling while family aid and
work was the next method used. Only 3.1 percent were able
to get scholarships to help put them through law school,
although it has not been until recently that there were many
scholarships available for use in law school.

On their legal experience, the year most women
entered the bar was in 1948, possibly due to the influence
of World War II. Otherwise they were fairly evenly spread
across the years for entering the bar. Unfortunately,

40.5 percent failed to answer this question and the non-
answers are assumed to be from the nonlawyers. The main
reasons that they listed for becoming a lawyer were schol-
astic interest and family involvement. Also 19 percent said
that they wanted a profession or to move up from their posi-
tions as legal secretaries or librarians. Most of the women
judges were first employed as lawyers while working for
government agencies (37 percent). "Many women attorneys
rebuffed by private firms turn to government. . . ."5 This

is even more apparent when it was learned in a study by

 

5Dinerman, "Sex Discrimination," p. 952.

55

Alice Jacobs that 27 percent of all women lawyers work for
some government while only 14 percent of the male lawyers
do 50.6 The questionnaire results also revealed that cor-
porations only got 3.1 percent of these women and the rest
went into private practice. This compares to 33,593 cor-
poration lawyers out of 355,242 lawyers in 1970 (9.3 per-
cent).7 Of those in pravate practice, one—half of these
women were the sole practitioner or practiced with a family
member. White found similarly that women gain entrance into
private practice by being more than just employees such as
joining their father's or husband's firm.8 Fifty—four

and two-tenths percent of the women judges said they ran a
general practice. Fourteen percent specialized in criminal
law as Opposed to 6.8 percent specializing in juvenile prob-
lems and 10.2 percent working on divorce, which are areas
typically viewed as women's law. ". . . The size of the
female response to this question and to the question about
the number of court appearances per year indicate that a
substantial part of the practicing women carry on active_
trial practice and are not hidden away in the 'women's

specialties."9

 

6Jacobs, "Women in Law School," pp. 462-71.

7White, p. 1060.

8U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Profile of
the United States (Washington: Government Printing Office,
1973), p. 158.

9White, p. 1062.

 

 

56

Concerning their judicial experience, 1973 was the
year with the most women ascending to the bench. There
were twenty-six women reaching the bench that year or 13 per-
cent of the total. The year 1934 was the first year that
any of these women reached the bench and five women have
already ascended in 1974 (data collection occurred in early
April). During the 19505, nineteen women ascended to the
bench (9.5 percent). The 19605 showed an increase in the
number of women becoming judges and a big jump occurred
between 1969 (nine women became judges) and 1970 (fifteen
women became judges). The 19705 have maintained this
increased number of women ascending to the bench. In the
year that they ascended to their current position, again
there is a big jump between 1969 (eight women)anuil970
(fourteen women). The year 1971 had twenty-one move to
their current positions, while 1972 had twenty-three, 1973
had thirty-seven and 1974 had nine women move in the judi-
ciary. On the average the women had served a little over
two terms with their terms usually being four years in
length. Fourteen women were serving life terms on the bench.

Thirty and four-tenths percent of the women judges
were elected to the bench, 46.6 percent were appointed and
23 percent were appointed to fill an unexpired term. This
compares with 37.5 percent elected, 32.7 percent appointed

and 29.8 percent appointed to fill an unexpired term among

57

the black judges.10 The women judges reached the bench
significantly more by appointment. Most served in either
very small communities or very large urban areas. Twenty-
five and nine-tenths percent were from areas of 10,000
population and under, while 36.3 percent were from 500,000+
areas. Over half (50.8 percent) served in local courts,
44.4 percent worked in state courts and 4.3 percent (eight
women judges) were in the Federal judiciary. This means
that 1.3 percent of the Federal judiciary is made up of
women.11 Again comparing these figures to those of the
black judges, it was found that 11 percent of the black
judges sat in the Federal judiciary (including one Supreme
Court justice), 38 percent sat in state courts (only two on
state Supreme Courts) and 51 percent on local courts.12
Obviously, the blacks have made greater gains in the Federal
judiciary possibly due to the greater strength of the civil
rights movement. The number of black judges to women judges
in state and local courts is comparable although the women
do have one more state Supreme Court justice. It must be
remembered that women make up’a greater percentage of the

American population than do blacks and therefore there is a

 

10"The Black Judge in America," p. 19.

11Chuck Stone, "Women Get a Bad Deal in American
Judiciary," Detroit Free Press, February 20, 1973, p. ll-A.

12

 

"The Black Judge in America," p. 19.

58

greater pool of people to draw women judges from than there
is to draw black judges from. Doris Sassower emphasizes
this point when she says,
Despite the fact that women outnumber blacks in the
legal profession more than two to one, and more have
been in it longer, by 1970 black judges already
exceeded female judges, both in absolute numbers and
relative to their proportion in the population, and
had already achieved that which is still denied women:
a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. One might conclude
that sexism is more deeply rooted than racism. But
it is undoubtedly true that the head start the black's
movement had over today's feminist movement has con-
tributed to their success in that regard.13
Over half (54.4 percent) were general trial jurisdiction
with 42.4 percent special jurisdiction at the trial level.
Most of these special jurisdiction courts were probate
courts. Only 3 percent of the women judges served on
appellate courts, of which only three women serve on their
state's highest court. 'These states are Arizona, Michigan
and North Carolina.

The main reason cited by many of the women (21.2 per-
cent) for serving on the bench was their availability at the
time the position became vacant. Some noted that men could
make more money in private practice and so would not take
the judgeship. Several rural judges stated that their posi-
tion was only part-time and because of this no qualified man

wanted the position. Also a few women did say that the men

lawyers practicing in a certain court decided it was time to

 

13

Sassower, "Women and the Judiciary,‘ p. 285.

59

have a woman judge and as that particular woman was quali-
fied for the job, she was drafted for the job. Fifteen and
nine-tenths percent listed service and the same number
listed academic interest as their reasons for being on

the bench. Twelve and six-tenths percent viewed ascending
to the bench as job advancement and 9.3 percent were on

the bench to serve the interests of justice. Finally, 7.9
percent listed job security and steady hours for their
becoming a judge.

Forty-nine and seven-tenths percent had been surveyed
as a woman, 63.7 percent had been surveyed as a judge and
48.9 percent had been surveyed as a woman judge with 86.2
percent having had a newspaper article written about them.
In political activity, seventy women judges or 36.5 percent
had had no experience, 25.5 percent were categorized as low-
status participation, 16.7 percent were medium-status par-
ticipation and 21.4 percent were active in high-status
positions in politics before ascending to the bench. The
black judges were similar in their political activity to
the women judges, for 67 percent categorized themselves as
not active with 33 percent saying that they were politically
active.14 While 56.7 percent of the women judges felt
their political activity had not affected their ascension

to the bench, 34.4 percent felt it gave them exposure to the

 

14"The Black Judge in America," p. 24.

6O

electorate and the appointers. Further, 60.4 percent did
not think political activity was necessary for a judgeship
but of those who did, the main reason for its necessity was
to gain political support.

The numbers and types of awards and honors that they
had received are too numerous to mention. Ten women judges
had received honorary degrees while others had been named
"Woman of the Year." Fifty-four and two-tenths percent
attended judicial courses and professional meetings, while
some (14.5 percent) had written articles on legal topics.
Almost three-fourths of the women judges belonged to a bar
association, judicial association or both. Memberships in
churches were numerous while only seven women listed a
political party affiliation. Various ethnic, social, ser-
vice, artistic and educational groups were represented.
Fifty-four and six-tenths percent of the judges felt that
there was some form of personal risk involved in being a
judge but very few took any precautions.

The next set of questions dealt with the judges'
feminism. Thirty-two and one-tenth percent said there was
a women lawyers' association near them and that they belonged
while 7.6 percent did not belong. Sixty and three-tenths
percent noted, however, that there was no such organiza-
tion close enough to them to join. Fifty-nine percent
listed themselves as not participating in the feminist

movement with the rest spreading themselves among joining

61

groups, giving speeches, contributing money and writing
articles. This low participation in feminist activities
was surprising, for according to Karen DeCrow, feminists
are more likely to be first-born children and have few or
no brothers, which appeared to be the case for many of

the women judges.15 From their answers, the strength of the
judges' feminism was determined. Fifty-three and four-
tenths percent were not participating, 18.7 percent were
low on participation, 14 percent were mediumly active and

14 percent were highly active in the feminist movement.
Seventy-two and three-tenths percent said that they would
advocate more women lawyers and 70.5 percent said that they
would advocate there being more women judges. Bmamywflghtami
three-tenths percent saw more women plaintiffs in civil
cases in the past three years, 32.2 percent saw the same
number and 5.9 percent saw fewer women while the rest did
not know or the question was not applicable to them. Forty-
One and five-tenths percent of the women judges saw more
women defendants in criminal cases in the past three years,
25.2 percent saw the same number and 5.4 percent saw fewer
women defendants. This perception of more women defendants
is supported by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports as the rate

of women arrested for serious crimes rose 246.2 percent from

 

15Linda Lee Landis, "Karen DeCrow Wants to Get the
Sex Out of the Courts," Chicago Tribune, March 12, 1974,
section 2, p. 1.

 

62

1960 to 1972 and for all offenses rose 85.6 percent for the

16 No correlation was noted between perception

same period.
of women defendants and plaintiffs and the judge's strength
of feminism. In discussing the barriers to their advance—
ment, sex was listed 20.2 percent of the time, 18.5 percent
listed lack of education, 5.1 percent noted political bar—
riers and 3.4 percent saw their age as a barrier. The rest
of the judges saw no barriers or were satisfied to remain in
their current position. Most judges (66.9 percent) wished
to remain at the same bench level, 11.4 percent were retir-
ing, 18.3 percent wanted to advance to a higher bench level
and 2.3 percent were returning to their law practices.

On the attitudinal questions, 53.9 percent felt
eighteen should be the male age of majority and 40.7 percent
felt it should be twenty-one. Fifty-nine and six-tenths
percent felt eighteen should be the female age of majority
with 34.3 percent feeling it should be twenty-one. On the
selection of judges, 42.4 percent supported appointment,
26.6 percent favored nonpartisan election, 12.1 percent
wanted partisan elections and 16.2 percent supported the
use of the Missouri Plan. Most felt the misuse of office
and private misconduct were the main reasons for removing a

judge. Thirty-five and one-tenth percent felt a four-year

 

16"Women in Crime: The Numbers Continue to Grow,"
Detroit Free Press, July 7, 1974, p. 4-C.

63

term was the best, although 11.9 percent felt that a life
term on the bench was better. On the causes of crime,
alcohol, poverty, permissiveness, the breakdown of the
family, drugs, lack of a useful education, frustration and
the removal of the death penalty were cited in the above
order. Nineteen and four-tenths percent said community
values were not a factor that a judge should consider while
sentencing, 34.7 percent felt it had a minor influence,
while 15.3 percent felt it played a major part in the
judge's decision. The rest of the judges felt that commu-
nity values were too difficult to be determined for a judge
to use. The judges listed the following purposes of sen-
tencing in this order: reformation, individual deterrence,
general deterrence, punishment and incapacitation. The
information on offense was listed as: degree of injury,
attitude toward the offense, planning and premeditation,
culpability and damage. The order on information on offend-
ers was: criminal record, attitude toward rehabilitation,
mental condition, intelligence, family background, use of
alcohol and drugs, ties in the community, employment record

and marital status.

CROSS-TABULATIONS AND BREAKDOWN RESULTS

Cross-tabulations were run after the marginals on
those results that dealt with questions pertaining to the

six hypotheses. Also two breakdowns were run on several of

64

the more important factors to see if there was any relation
between them. Only those relationships found to be statis-
tically significant at the .05 level will be discussed.
The first hypothesis concerned age, with emphasis

on the group in the prime occupational movement range during
the 19505. The cross-tabulations dealing with the question
of age did not show to be significant except when run with
the question on equal chance of promotion. Table 2 contains
a listing of how each age group felt about its promotional

chances and the main barriers that they saw.

Table 2

Barriers to Promotion by Age Group

 

 

 

lfimnflers
Age<hnup Sfifi5Eqmfi5 . ..
(firorflnuty Edmxunon .Ama Sac POLMural
% N % N % N % N % N
pre-19505 30.6 (is) 24.5 (12) 10.2 (5) 18.4 ( 9) 4.1 (2)
19505 43.3 (26) 10.0 ( 6) 1.7 (1) 25.0 (15) 10.0 (6)

post-19505 48.5 (32) 22.7 (15) 0.0 (0) 18.2 (12) 1.5 (1)

 

It can be noticed that among each age group, the percentage
feeling that they have an equal chance to be promoted
increases as the group gets younger. Obviously the youngest
age group sees no age barrier. What is surprising is that
the 19505 group sees a much smaller education barrier but a

much larger one because of sex and politics. Most women

65

cited the lack of a law degree as being the educational bar-
rier. By comparing the percentage of each group that had a
law degree to the barriers perceived, it is obvious why the
19505 group saw less of an educational barrier. Of the
pre-19505 group, 50 percent had a law degree, the 19505
group had 72.7 percent with a law degree and ofthe post-19505
group only 63 percent had a law degree. On the sex barrier,
the 19505 group sees a bigger barrier. This could possibly
have been caused by the discrimination that this group of
women had to face in establishing their careers. The ques-
tion on strength of feminism as compared with age group
showed that there was no real difference between the 19505
group and the post-19505 group. On the political barrier,
the reverse is true. The pre-l9505 group and the 19505
group parallel each other on the strength of their political
activity while the post-19505 group is much less involved.
Yet again the 19505 group saw a larger political barrier.
This can possibly be explained by this group's longer exper-
ience in politics and their larger number of attempts to
reach higher positions that take more political support
than those attempted by the post-19505 group. Finally,
it was noticed that the younger the group the less satisfied
they were to remain in the current position.

While these statistics showed that there was an
important difference in the 19505 group from the other two

groups, these facts do not answer whether there are more or

66

less judges in this age group than in the other two. From
the marginal run it was found that in those from age sixty
to seventy-seven (pre-l9505) there were fifty-four judges,
from forty-nine ‘UD fifty-nine (19505) there were sixty-
eight and from age twenty—four to forty-nine (post-19505)
there were seventy-four. The differences in the number of
judges in each group are not great. The lower number in the
pre-19505 group is probably due to deaths and retirements.
The post-19505 group may be smaller than anticipated because
many women are preparing to run in the forthcoming fall
election buthave not yet made it to the bench.

Therefore, from the above information it appears
that the 19505 era produced a similar number of judges but
that these women saw different barriers to their advancement.

The next hypothesis dealt with family members being
involved in the law.' From the fourth question on the ques-
tionnaire, it was found that 68.3 percent had no family
member in the law. Fathers, uncles and grandfathers were
the relations most likely to be in the legal profession
(14.1 percent, 5.5 percent, 5.5 percent, respectively). Yet
when broken down between lawyers and nonlawyers we find the
results shown in Table 3. From these figures it can be seen
that the judges who were lawyers had a much greater chance
of having a family member in the law. Also, on seventeen
of the questionnaires the judge noted that at some time a

family member in the law had also been a judge. Therefore,

67

while having someone in one's family in the law is not the
major influence in directing current women judges into the

law, it is still a very strong factor.

Table 3

Family Members in Law by Educational Attainment

 

 

. . Family Member No Family Member
Education Level in Law in Law
% N % N
Lawyer 44.4 (55) 55.6 (69)
Nonlawyer 16.0 (11) 84.0 (58)

 

The third hypothesis concerned the strength of the
political activity of women judges. Judging from what each
woman put down as her involvement, it was found that 36.5
percent had no political participation, 25.5 percent had
low-status participation, 16.7 percent had medium-status
participation and 21.4 percent were involved in high-status
activities. Therefore, over half of the women judges had
little or no political experience before coming to the
bench. Also over half (56.7 percent) felt that their
political activity did not affect their ascension to the
bench. Nor did almost two-thirds (60.4 percent) of the
women feel that it was necessary for a person to participate

in politics before ascending to the bench.

68

While this information makes it appear that current
women judges shunned the use of the political ladder to
attain their current positions a cross-tabulation between
years of attaining the bar and strength of political activ-

ity shows differently. (See Table 4.)

Table 4

Bar Year by Partisan Political Activity

 

Political Activity

 

 

Bar Year None - Low Medium High

% N % N % N % N
1920—29 0.0 (0) 20.0 (1) 20.0 (1) 60.0 ( 3)
1930-39 27.3 (6) 27.3 (6) 13.6 (3) 31.8 ( 7)
1940-49 22.9 (8) 25.7 (9) 22.9 (8) 28.6 :(10)
1950-59 26.5 (9) 26.5 (9) 17.6 (6) 29.4 (10)
1960-69 47.4 (9) 21.1 (4) 10.5 (2) 21.1 ( 4)
1970-74 100.0 (4) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 ( 0)

 

The judges who have attained the bar in the last two decades

are Obviously not as politically active as the women before.

This is especially true.for the 19705 group.
had to have ascended to the bench fairly quickly after attain-

ing the bar.

The 1970 women

Some of the 19705 judges may have had little

time for political activity because of the quick jump from

being a lawyer to being a judge.

It is possible that the

19605 women had help from the feminist movement and so did

not have to rely on politics as heavily as the women before

69

them did. The 1920 group had a significantly higher politi-
cal involvement than did anyone else. These women were of
the suffrage era and so had an issue around which to base
their political activity. All of the other groups were
fairly evenly divided among the different strengths of
political activity. Still it must be observed that little
or no political activity was the rule in most age groups.
Finally on political activity, it appeared that the
higher the educational attainment, the more likely is a woman

judge's chances of being politically active. (See Table 5.)

Table 5

Political Activity by Educational Attainment

 

Political Activity

 

 

Education Level 'None Low ‘ Medium High
% N % N % N % N
High School 46.9 (23) 28.6 (14) 14.3 ( 7) 10.2 ( 5)

Bachelor's and
Master's Degree 50'0 ( 9) 21°4 ( 3) 14-3 ( 3) 14.3 ( 2)

Law Degree 30.1 (37) 25.2 (31) 17.1 (21) 27.6 (34)

 

As more and more states raise standards for judges and as
more of the judges have a law degree because of this, it
appears possible that more of the women judges will be
politically active and use the political ladder to attain
judgeships even though the recent trend has been away from

active political careers.

I70

The fourth hypothesis focused on women lawyers and
judges specializing in areas of "women's law." When list—
ing the main types of cases handled as a lawyer, the women
judges put: general practice 54.2 percent, liability 5.1
percent, commercial 3.4 percent, criminal 14.4 percent,
juvenile problems 6.8 percent, divorce cases 10.2 percent
and all others 5.9 percent. Juvenile problems, divorce,
trusts and estates are usually considered "women's law" as
it covers areas usually thought to be women's concerns such
as the home and children. Yet criminal law, which is con-
sidered to be "men's law" had 14.7 percent of the women
specializing in it. Yet it did appear that these women did
not concentrate on "men's law" in business concerns such
as commercial or liability.

On maintaining their specialization after becoming
judges, it was found that only 3 percent of the women judges
were on appellate courts, which have long been considered as
men's areas. The U.S. Supreme Court had never had a woman
nominated to it, much less serve on it. Fifty-four and
seven-tenths percent of the women judges were general trial
jurisdiction, while 42.4 percent were specialized trial
level. From the titles given with the judges' addresses it
was noted that about one-third of the judges served on pro-
bate courts. Probate has long been considered "women's
law." Therefore while a majority of women do not specialize

in "women's law" while practicing law, a larger segment of

71

the population of the women judges has been funneled into
this area than into any other legal specialty.

Hypothesis five stated that women judges would be
expected to be found in large, liberal urban areas. Rural
areas had 11.9 percent of the women judges, 14 percent were
in cities of 3-9,999, 12.4 percent in areas of 10-35,000,
2.1 percent in areas of 36-50,999, 10.4 percent in areas
of 51-99,999, 13 percent in areas of loo—500,000 and the
largest percentage (26.3 percent) in areas of 500,000+.
From these figures it appeared that the women judges are
more highly concentrated in urban areas. A sample was taken
from the judge lists received from the states to determine
if women judges were more concentrated in urban areas than
were male judges. The judge lists from eleven states
(Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, District of Columbia, Florida,
Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon and Washington)
contained the names of both male and female judges. While
it was believed that it was a good sample of the states
responding, several bench levels may have been represented
in the male sample that were not represented in the female
sample simply because no women were on those levels. The
sample consisted of 3,267 male judges and 99 female judges.
The female judges represented about 24 percent of the total
pOpulation of this study. All of the judges, both male and
female, were classified according to the size of the area

they presided in, with the results shown in Table 6.

72

Table 6

Sex by City Size

 

 

 

S City Size
ex

Rural-9,999 10-100,000 loo-500,000 500,000+
Male 19.0% 44.5% 17.0% 19.5%
Female 28.7% 27.9% 15.9% 27.4%

 

While it did appear that women judges were more concentrated
in the most urban areas than were the male judges, the women
judges were also more heavily concentrated in the most rural
areas. The figures are not enough to suggest that the highly
urban areas are more accepting of the idea of a woman judge,
only that women judges were more concentrated on the extremes
of the city-size continuum. This may be due to a larger pool
of qualified women in the cities to draw women judges from
and lower qualifications required by the rural court system.
It is also important to note that urban women judges
are more politically active than are rural women judges.
(Table 7). Because these women are more politically active,
this may enhance their chances of being elected and so make
the number of women judges in urban areas larger because of

the urban effect.

73

Table 7

Political Activity by City Size

 

Political Activity

 

 

City Size None Low Medium High
% N % N % N % N
Rural 77.3 (17) 9.1 ( 2) 13.6 ( 3) 0.0 ( O)
3,000-9,999 38.5 (10) 26.9 ( 7) 11.5 ( 3) 23.1 ( 6)
10,000-35,999 20.8 ( 5) 29.2 ( 7) 25.0 ( 6) 25.0 ( 6)
36,000-50,999 50.0 ( 2) 0.0 ( O) 25.0 ( 1) 25.0 ( l)
51,000-99,999 30.0 ( 6) .25.0 ( 5) 25.0 ( 5) 20.0 ( 4)
100,000-500,000 45.8 (11) 20.8 ( 5) 4.2 ( 1) 29.2 ( 7)
500,000+ 24.3 (17) 32.9 (23) 18.6 (13) 24.3 (17)

 

It also appeared that urban judges are more fem-
inistic than those in the rural areas. Eighty-eight and
two-tenths percent of the areas with 100,000 or more pOpula-
tion had a women lawyers' association, while 94.7 percent
of the rural areas did not have one. Using such a group as
a base to work for more women judges may be one reason why
urban areas have more women judges. It also appears that
urban areas are more supportive of feministic activities by
having more groups available for the women to join. Because
of this, women judges in urban areas have the highest strength
of feminism (Table 8). Whether larger cities are more sup-
portive of feminism and so allow more feministic judges to
be elected or if there just are more feminists in larger

cities and so more get elected than in rural areas is unknown.

74

But this higher level of feminism could be helpful in get—
ting a woman onto the bench and so may serve as another

career ladder.

Table 8

Strength of Feminism by City Size

 

Strength of Feminism

 

 

City Size None Low} "Medium High

% N % N % N % N
Rural 95.2 (20) 0.0 ( 0) 4.8 ( l) 0.0 ( O)
3,000-9,999 92.6 (25) 7.4 ( 2) 0.0 ( O) 0.0 ( 0)
10,000-35,999 62.5 (15) 20.8 ( 5) 4.2 ( 1) 12.5 ( 3)
36,000-50,999 100.0 ( 4) 0.0 ( O) 0.0 ( 0) 0.0 ( O)
51,000-99,999 60.0 (12) 20.0 ( 4) 10.0 ( 2) 10.0 ( 2)
100,000-500,000 48.0 (12) 16.0 ( 4) 16.0 ( 4) 20.0 ( 5)
500,000+ 18.8 (13) 29.0 (20) 27.5 (19) 24.6 (17)

 

This information on feminism leads into the last
hypothesis about women not helping other women attain the
bench because they do not participate in feministic activi-
ties. As was noted above, feminism is viewed as an aid in
reaching the bench. If current women judges do not par-
ticipate in feministic activities then there is less like—
lihood of more women attaining the bench. There are
undoubtedly other ways in which women judges could help
other women attain the bench but participation in feministic

activities was the most easily measured and so was used.

'75
Fifty-nine and one-tenth percent listed themselves as not
participating in the femini5t movement. Yet almost three-
fourths (72.3 percent) would advocate having more women
lawyers and 70.5 percent would advocate having more women
judges. One reason for this advocacy is that 60.5 percent
saw the same or more women plaintiffs in civil cases and
66.7 percent saw the same or more women defendants in crim-
inal cases in the last three years. In the author's Opinion
because of this increased number of women using the court
system, the women judges may see a need for more women
practitioners in the field who could empathize with atti-
tudes and problems particular to women and "women's law."
This does not imply that male practitioners could not handle
women's cases but merely means that women lawyers and judges
may have insights derived from common female experiences
that would aid in working on women's cases. But they are
not doing anything to increase the number of women prac-
titioners by working in formal feministic groups. Of those
who are not participating in feministic activities, 50.1
percent are lawyers. Also of the nonparticipants, 37.4 per-
cent feel that they have an equal chance of promotion in the
judicial hierarchy and so perhaps do not see a need to sup-
port the women's movement. Yet of the nonparticipants,
13.1 percent see their sex as a barrier to their achievement.
Why they are not using the feministic groups to break down

this barrier is unknown. The nonparticipants are split,

76

with 69.1 percent wishing to remain in the same position,
13.8 percent planning to retire and 12.8 percent wanting

to advance. Among those who wish to advance in the judi-
cial hierarchy, 61.3 percent are participating in some way
in the feminist movement and so may be using feminism after
all as a part of their career ladders.

From these statistics it does not appear that a
large number of women judges are participating in the femi-
nist movement but that those who are still building their
careers are more likely to be participating.

Finally, two breakdowns were run for age by commu-
nity size, political activity and strength of feminism and
for strength of feminism by community size and politics
(see Figures 1 and 2). The breakdown charts list the num-
ber in each group, as the mean and standard deviation have
no meaning for this kind of data. The first breakdown again'
points out the larger number of women judges in cities of
500,000+ and that they appear to be more politically active
and feministic than in the other groups. Breakdown two
works with the same variables and emphasizes the same finding

but with the strength of feminism as the initial variable.

INTERVIEW RESULTS

All of these results were obtained in personal
interviews with Justice Mary Coleman, Judge Cornelia Kennedy,

Judge Zoe Burkholz and Judge Alice Gilbert. Many of the

'77

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79

answers received during these interviews echoed the trends
found from the questionnaire data. While the sample is
small, these women did represent a cross-section of the
women judges in Michigan.

Two of these women were raised in "legal families"
and one of the judges' mothers went to law school. The two
other judges indicated that they reached the bench because
a vacancy occurred and that because they were disenchanted
with the way that the court was run, they took the opportu-
nity to do something about it.

These women judges had varying opinions on whether
their being a woman helped or hindered their reaching their
current positions. While one judge said it made no differ-
ence, the others felt that being a wOman hindered them at
lower level positions but helped them more recently to
achieve a higher bench level. All of them noted that people
sought out their qualifications. One judge said she took
her chances but because she had had a great deal of experi-
ence and that people felt it was time for a woman judge to
be elected, she reached the bench. "There are greater
opportunities for women today because there is a greater
awareness that women have a real contribution to make,"
said Judge Burkholz. She added, "Yes, what the women's

lib girls have done has changed the climate although there

80

has always been a place for women, men too, who excel."l7

Another woman judge said, "I made up my mind that I would be
so well equipped and trained that they could not refuse
me."18

All of these judges felt that while many women do
specialize in "women's law" that if a woman had interests
in other legal specialties that she should develop and follow
these interests and that she would probably now be accepted
in those areas of the law. They all see the number of women
judges increasing. Justice Coleman noted, "The general
feeling has been that men should be judges, with the excep-
tion of the probate area, but peOple are becoming adjusted

19 But another judge

to having women in this male world."
pointed out that she needs the male judges and attorneys'
assistance in discussing points of law and procedure as
there just aren't any other women to converse with on these
topics.

In answer to the question, Where would be a good

place in the criminal justice system to have more women

working? Judge Gilbert answered, "She should be in every

 

17Statement by Zoe Burkholz, Probate Judge for
Berrien County, personal interview, April 19, 1974.

18Statement by Alice Gilbert, District Court judge,
personal interview, May 13, 1974.

19Statement by Mary Coleman, Justice Of the Michigan
State Supreme Court, personal interview, April 8, 1974.

81

segment of the economic community, social community and
political community as long as that is where her personal

20 Justice Coleman continued on this by

interest lies."
saying, "As a matter of fact, I can't think of a place

where a woman wouldn't do as well, maybe even better, than
the men do. I do strongly feel that there should be more
women on the police force."21 Judge Kennedy pointed out

that the district attorney's office in Detroit now has two
women trying cases for them and that previously women lawyers
had a next-to-impossible time getting work in this legal
specialty.22 -

All of the judges expressed a desire to continue on
the bench for some time and some of them said that they
wished to go higher in the judicial hierarchy. Every one
of these women spoke at length about the technical changes
that were being tried to improve the court system by making
things go faster and by preventing cases from being lost in
the mass of cases that go through the system each year.

Judge Gilbert said, "We judges must assume responsibility for

23

the administration of justice." Still they noted problems

 

20Gilbert interview.

21Coleman interview.

22Statement by Cornelia Kennedy, Judge of the Federal
District Court, personal interview, April 10, 1974.

23Gilbert interview.

in
it
if
to

at

82

becoming a woman judge. One said, "I would not have made
here if my children had not been normal and healthy, for
it had been otherwise I would have had to remain at home
care for them. . . . What a working woman needs is a wife

24

home." Nevertheless, when asked if they would enter

the law, knowing what they know now, to a woman they answered

yes!

 

24Ibid.

CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

This study aimed to provide descriptive data about
American women judges of all bench levels and jurisdictions.
While it generated data on their backgrounds and attitudes
on certain legal issues, the study also sought to define
career ladders used by these women. The data showed:

1. The current women judges who were in the prime
occupational movement age group during the 19503 are not
significantly less in number than in the pre- and post-19503
groups but that the 1950s group saw less educational bar-
riers to their advancement and more sexual and political
barriers than did the other two groups.

2. While having a family member in the legal pro-
fession was not the dominant reason for these women to enter
the law, it was a strong factor in influencing their choice
of career as 31.7 percent had some family member in the law.
This figure increases to 44.4 percent if the woman judge
herself is a lawyer.

3. A majority of the current American women judges
(62 percent) had low-status participation in partisan poli-
tics before ascending to the bench. Judges admitted to the
bar in the 19605 and the 19708 had a much lower—status

83

84

participation in politics than did the older judges. Higher
education also appears to be positively correlated to higher-
status levels of participation in partisan politics.

4. Although 17 percent of the women judges had
specialized in areas of "women's law" during their legal
careers, a larger group of these women judges (about one-
third) specialized in "women's law" (probate court) after
coming to the bench. It appears from their comments that
many women judges used probate court as a stepping stone to
general trial judgeships.

5. WOmen judges were more concentrated in urban
areas than in rural areas. The reason for this is unclear,
as either these urban areas could be more accepting of the
idea of a woman judge or that women in these areas made it
to the bench more often because of their higher political
and feministic activity.

6. Fifty-nine and one-tenth percent of the women
judges listed themselves as not participating in the fem-
inist movement. Yet almost three-fourths of these judges
advocate there being more women lawyers and more women
judges. Of those women judges who wish to advance in the
judicial hierarchy, 61.3 percent are participating in femi—

nistic activities to some degree.

85
IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS

After viewing these statistics it is not a question
of why there are so few women judges, but of why there are
so many when there does not appear to be a single major
supportive career ladder for women judges. Men have sup-
port from the societal view that law is men's business.
Women must overcome this view to enter law school, get a
job and become a judge. While some women obviously had
strong family encouragement to enter the law and may have
even been following a family tradition in pursuing a legal
career, this support did not occur in a majority of the
cases. A majority of the women did not use political par-
ticipation as an entry into the judiciary nor are most of
the women judges active feminists who are paving the way for
other women to enter the judiciary.

While women do have these factors acting against
them, it does seem that large, liberal urban areas have a
higher concentration of women judges than was found for male
judges but also the extreme rural areas had a higher con-
centration of women. Also the supposedly retarding effect
of the 19503 did not show on this group of women judges for
they were as numerous from this time span as from any other.

No single career ladder appeared for women judges.
Most used a combination of forces to attain their judge-

ships. From some of their comments, many of the women did

86

not originally intend to become judges and did so because

a position was vacated and the particular woman had the
necessary qualifications. Also a few were purposefully
drafted by fellow lawyers as a need for a woman on the bench
was felt. As with some of the women's entries into law,
some judgeships were obtained by concentrated hard work,
some by good timing and some by plain luck. One factor in
getting a number of the women on the bench was that the male
lawyers would not take a cut in the financial rewards of
being a lawyer so that the lower paying but higher status
judgeships opened up for women lawyers.

Is it desirable to have more women judges? There is
nothing in this study to suggest any reason why women could
not serve a larger role in the American judiciary. Until
some information is uncovered that suggests some functional
reason for not having women judges, candidates should be
selected without regard for their sex. That is a decision,
though, for those voters and heads of governments who choose
our judges. The data from this study can be used by these
people to determine how their candidates measure up to the

current group of women judges.
AREAS FOR FURTHER STUDY

Now that this study has begun the task of defining
who our women judges are, a companion study on American

male judges would prove useful. By using male judges of

87

equal rank of the women judges used in this survey, differ-
ences in backgrounds and attitudes on legal issues could

be found. Also such a study would indicate if these two
groups had taken different career ladders.

The information collected here only covers a small
portion of the factors influencing a person's career deci-
sion. Motivational factors, difficulties in maintaining
one's bench position and relationships with those coming
before the bench are other areas deserving of research.
With the current interest in judicial standards, a study on
the quality and quantity of work done by women judges as
compared to men judges would be useful.

In an area outside of criminal justice, this study
could provide data to be used on why certain women succeed
or why certain women choose to have a career. The infor-
mation found in such a study would have psychological, soCio-
logical and business value especially in the current era of

women's liberation.
CONCLUSION

Women are serving as judges in almost every level
of court in America, the United States Supreme Court being
a notable exception. With the rebirth of the women's move-
ment and with its gaining momentum so that it is now one of
the major current issues, it is highly likely that more women

will seek the bench and attain it.

88

It is also highly important that America make the
best use of its human resources. This study has discdvered
that women are not put to a full use in the judiciary and
that at the present moment there does not appear to be a
functional reason for not doing so. More women have
already entered the study of law and therefore more women
will be qualified to serve as a judge. With several bar-
riers still remaining which keep qualified women from attain-

ing the bench, more effort must be directed to remove the

barriers.

 

APPENDICES

89

APPENDIX A

LETTER REQUESTING JUDGES' NAMES

90

APPENDIX A

LETTER REQUESTING JUDGES' NAMES

243 Burcham Drive
East Lansing, Michigan 48823
January 26, 1974

State Bar Association
Address
fCity, State Zip Code

Dear Sirs:

I am a graduate student at Michigan State University and am
currently working on a master's degree in criminal justice.
The topic for my thesis is women judges. To complete my
study, it is necessary for me to contact every woman who
holds the title of magistrate, judge or justice at local,
state and federal levels. Would it be possible for your
organization to send me the name, title and address of all
such women who preside in your state? If such a list does
not exist could you send me a list of all judges and their
addresses presiding at any level in your state so that I
can go through the list and find the women judges for myself?
If your organization does not have this material could you
tell me to which state organization I can write to obtain a
listing of judges?

I hope that this is not too time consuming a request. Thank
you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,

Barbara L. Brehm

91

APPENDIX B

THE COVER LETTER AND QUESTIONNAIRE

92

APPENDIX B

THE COVER LETTER AND QUESTIONNAIRE

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

 

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE ' SCHWI. OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EAST LANSING ° MICHIGAN ' 4.820

2&3 Burcham Drive
East Lansing. Michigan #8823
March 17. 19?“

Dear Judge:

I am a graduate student at Michigan State University and am currently
working on my masters thesis in criminal justice. The tOpic of my
thesis is women judges and my study aims to collect information on
their backgrounds. their attitudes on several legal issues and their
future plans. Currently there is no information of this type.

Enclosed is a questionaire that attempts to gather the above listed
information. It would be a great help to me if you would please fill
out the questionaire and return it to me as soon as it is convenient
for you. It should take you about one-half hour to complete the
questionaire. All information received will be treated confidentially.
If there is a part of the questionaire that you object to answering
or that you feel does not pertain to you. it is not mandatory that
you complete that section. Even a partially completed questionaire
will aid me in my study.

The information will be used in a descriptive manner in conjunction
with information from secondary sources to give a clearer picture of
who our women judges are. how they came to their posts and their
involvement in their communities.

Again. please be assured that your responses will be treated con-
fidentially. For your convenience I am enclosing a stamped. self-
addressed envelope.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely.

1%

Barbara L. Brehm
School of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University

Enclosures

93

94

FEMALE JUDICIAL SURVEI

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1)
2)

3)

9)

5)
6)

7)
3)

9)

Age years

Has your mother employed while you were growing up? yes no

If yes. what was her occupation?

 

Has your father employed while you were growing up? yes no

If yes. what was his occupation?

 

Has anyone in your family in the legal profession? yes no

If yes. who are they and their position:

 

 

Are you: first born second born third born fourth or later born?
How many brothers and sisters did you have while growing up?
brothers sisters

Please list their current occupations:

 

 

Marital status: single married separated divorced widowed
List your college and/or law degrees and the universities where you

earned them:

 

 

How did you finance your way through college?
Family aid Loan Scholarships Working Other

 

95

LEGAL EXPERIENCE

10) Year admitted to the bar:

 

11) List your reason(s) for entering the legal profession:

 

 

 

12) Before ascending to the bench were you in:

a government agency

 

a corporation

 

private practice If so. the size of the firm was
13) Types of cases you mainly handled while practicing law were:
general practice
specialized practice
liability

 

commercial

 

criminal

 

juvenile

 

divorce

 

other

 

JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE

1“) Year first ascended to the bench

 

15) Year ascended to your current position

16) Number of terms you have served

 

17) Length of your terms years

96

18) How did you first ascend to the bench?

elected appointed appointed to fill an unexpired term

19) Size of the community in which you preside:

10.000-35.999
36.000-50.999
510°00‘999999

Rur.1‘ 20999,
3.000- 9.999

 

100,000-500.000

500,000+

20)

21)

22)

23)

 

Level of current judicial post:
A) Local state federal
B) Trial Appellate

 

i)General jurisdiction i)Intermediate
i!)8pecial jurisdiction 11)Highest Court in state

List your reason(s) for serving on the bench:

 

 

 

 

Have you ever been surveyed before because you are a woman?

yes no

Because you are a judge? yes no

Because you are a woman judge? yes no

Have you ever been written up in a local newspaper article? yes no
Did you participate in partisan politics before ascending to the
bench? yes no If yes. the extent of your participation was:

 

 

2n)

25)

26)

27)

28)

29)

30)

97

Did participating in partisan politics affect your ascension to the
bench? yes no If so. how:

 

 

 

Do you think political activity is necessary for consideration for

 

a judgeship? yes no If so why:

 

 

Special honors. awards. recognitions for professional achievement:

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to your judicial responsibilities. what other professional

activities have you engaged in the past year?
writing articles or books on legal tepics

 

attending courses for the judiciary

attending professional meetings

other

 

 

Memberships and officerships in professional organizations:

 

 

 

 

Memberships in non-professional organizations: (PTA. church. etc.)

 

 

 

 

Do you think that there are any personal risks involved in being a
judge? yes no If so. what are they and what precautions do you

 

 

98

31) Is there a women's legal association in your area that would be

32)

33)

3“)

35)

36)

convenient for you to join? yes no Do you belong? yes no
Have you participated in the neainist movement by:

____ joining an organisation

__ writing articles
____ contributing money
other
not participating

Do you think it is preper for a person in your position to directly

 

 

advocate and work for: more women lawyers? yes no
more women judges? yes no

Please explain:

 

 

In your experience. are there significantly more or less women
plaintiffs in civil cases in general than three years ago?

more - less If so. what do you think is the reason?

 

 

 

More or less women defendants in criminal cases? more less

For what reason(s)? _A_

 

Do you feel that you have an equal chance to move up the judicial

hierarchy? yes no Please explain: ___

 

 

What are your future occupational plans?

 

 

99

ATTITUDINAL QUESTIONAIEE

37) At what age do you think a male should be considered legally an
adult? A female?

 

38) How do you think judges at your bench level should be selected?
Appointed

 

Elected in a non-partisan election
Elected in a partisan election
Missouri Plan
Other
39) Under what circumstances do you feel a judge should be removed from

his post?

 

 

__.._i__a

#0) How long should a judge's term of office be at your bench level?

years

 

hi) What do you believe to be theicauses of crime? (Please 118t only 3)

 

 

 

 

 

#2) How much do you feel the judge should reflect community values

when sentencing?

 

 

 

 

100

#3) Bank (from first to last) the following in order of isportance
to you when you are deciding on a sentence: .
Classics; purposes of sentencing:
reformation
general deterrence
individual deterrence
___incapacitation

punishment

Information about offenders:
._____family background
criminal record ‘
I_____employment record
_____intelligence
.____Jmarital status

ties in the community

 

mental condition

 

attitude to rehabilitation

 

use of alcohol or drugs

 

other

 

Information about offenses

planning and premeditation

 

.____;culpability in other respects

_____degree of personl injury or violence
____damage or loss to property
__offender's present attitude to the offense

other

 

101

Please feel free to make any comments on the questionaire. its pre-
sentation. its content or to give me any further information that

you feel would be helpful in my study. Be assured that all information
will be kept confidential. Thank you for your time and cooperation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX C

INTERVIEW REQUEST LETTER

.102

APPENDIX-C

INTERVIEW REQUEST LETTER

243 Burcham Drive
East Lansing, Michigan 48823
March 20, 1974

Judge
Address
City, State Zip Code

Dear Judge :

 

I am a graduate studentixithe School of Criminal Justice
at Michigan State University, and I am writing my Master
of Science thesis on the backgrounds and attitudes of
women judges as they relate to their career patterns.

To gain advice and counsel on judicial career patterns, I
am conducting personal interviews with selected women
judges. Because of your position on the Court,
I would like to have the benefit of your judicial experi—
ence and therefore I would like to have the privilege of
interviewing you on this topic.

 

My schedule at Michigan State University will permit me

to conduct the interview in your chambers on any Monday,
Wednesday or Friday afternoon in April that is convenient
for you. In my planning of the interview I recognize that
you are very busy and therefore I have constructed the
interview so that it Should take no more than one hour of
your time. Would you please let me know of arrangements
that are convenient for you?

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Barbara L. Brehm

103

APPENDIX D

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

104

10.

ll.

12.

13.

APPENDIX D

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

How many years have you served as a judge?

What were the most influential factors in your choice
of a career?

What are the most gratifying aspects of your work?
The least gratifying?

Did you receive any special training before you
ascended to the bench on how to perform the duties of
a judge, including administrative as well as trial
activities?

In your opinion, how could the training of judges be
improved?

Has being a woman helped or hindered you in your climb
to your present position?

Do you believe that your decisions and opinions have
been treated with equal respect (as compared to those
of your male counterparts) by fellow judges and the
lawyers that have practiced before you?

In your opinion, should women judges specialize in such
areas as probate as they seem to be doing?

Why do you think that there are so few women judges
today? Do you see the number of women judges increasing?

Would you encourage your daughter (if you had one) to
enter the legal profession today?

What has been your supportive system and role models
as you are a woman judge?

What is your definition of success, and do you think
that you are successful?

Do you think that it is desirable to have more women

working in the criminal justice system and if you do,
where would you put them?

105

14.

15.

16.

17.

106
Do you see any significant changes in our legal system
in the future?
What was the most important choice in your life and why?

Have your experiences met your expectations? Are you
tempted to retire?

Knowing what you know now, would you still pursue the
same profession, and what would you do differently?

APPENDIX E

CODING SYSTEM FOR TABULATING QUESTIONNAIRES

107

APPENDIX E

CODING SYSTEM FOR TABULATING QUESTIONNAIRES

9 was the standard for no answer but does not apply where
listing ages or years

Column

1

Region (REG)

1.

7.

Northeast-éMaine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington,
D.C.

Southeast--Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi

Midwest--Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Wisconsin

Central South--Missouri, Arkansas, Texas,
Louisiana, Oklahoma

Plains States--Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
Colorado

Northwest-—Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon,
Washington, Alaska

Southwest--Utah, Nevada, California, Hawaii,
Arizona

Age (AGE)
Mother's employment (ME)

1.
2.

Mother employed
Mother not employed

Father's employment (FE)

1.
2.

Father employed
Father not employed

108

Column

6

10

11

12

13,14

109

Family member in law (LEFA)
1. None

Father

Mother

Uncle

Aunt, husband
Grandfather

Brother

Sister

(summation)
e e e e e e e

Birth order (BO)

1. First born

2. Second born

3. Third born

4. Fourth or later born

Number of brothers (BR)
Number Of sisters (SI)

Marital status (MS)
1. Single

2. Married

3. Separated

4. Divorced

S. Widowed

Education level (ED)

1. High school and/or junior college
2. Bachelor's degree

3. Master's degree

4. Law degree

Financing college (FIN)

1. Family aid

2. Loan

3. Scholarship

4. Work

5. Family aid and work

6. Loan, scholarship and work
7. Family aid and scholarship
8. Family aid and loan

Year admitted to the bar (BAR)

 

 

{I'll-Iii .lul'l III].
II.
I

Column

15

16

17

18,19

20,21
22
23

24

25

110

Reasons for becoming a lawyer_(BELA)
. Service

. Money and status

. Scholastic interest

. Family involvement

. Further social justice

. Wanted a profession

. Other

ccupation before reaching bench (JOB)

. Government agency

. Corporation

. Private practice--firm size--15 & up

. Private practice--firm size—-5 to 15

. Private practice--firm size--2 to 5

. Private practice--sole practitioner or
with family member

7. Other

0
1
2
3
4
5
6

Types of cases handled (CAS)
1. General

2. Special

3. Libel

Commercial

Criminal

Juvenile, probate
Divorce, family relations
Other

coqosuwa-
e e e e e

Year ascended to the bench (BEN)

Year ascended to current position (CUPO)
Number of terms served (NOTE)

Length of term (TEYR)

How first ascended to the bench (ASC)
l. Elected

2. Appointed

3. Appointed to fill unexpired term

Size of Community (COM)
1. Rural-2,999

2. 3,000-9,999

3. 10,000-35,999

4. 36,000-50,999

Column

26

27

28

29
30
31
32

33

111

5. 51,000-99,999
6. 100,000-500,000
7. 500,000+

Level of bench (LEV)
1. Local

2. State

3. Federal

Jurisdiction (JUR)

1. Trial, general

2. Trial, special

3. Appellate, highest

4. Appellate, intermediate

Reasons for serving on the bench (BEJU)
1. Service

2. Career advancement

3. Prestige, status

4. Academic interest

5. Available when judgeship was vacant
6. Security, part-time work

7. Other

8. Aid in cause of justice

Been surveyed as a woman (WSUR)

1. Yes

2. No

Been surveyed as a judge (JSUR)

1. Yes

2. No

Been surveyed as a woman judge (WJSU)
1. Yes
2. No

Been written up in a newspaper article (NEWS)
1. Yes
2. No

Participated in partisan politics (POL)

1. No

2. Yes--low participation--menial work

3. Yes--medium participation--decision making
4. Yes--high participation--ran for office

Column

34

35

36

37

38

39,40,41

112

Politics affected her ascension to the
bench (POAF)

1. No

2. Yes--exposure to appointer & electors
3. Yes--experience in government

4. Yes-~other

Partisan politics necessary for a judgeship
(NECJ)

1. No

2. Yes--to get support from appointers

3. Yes—-to get exposure to the peOple

4. Yes--other

Honors (HON)

l. Scholastic

2. Honorary degree

. Bar association award

Who's Who

Service on community project
Woman of the Year

. Other

\onmaw
O O 0

Professional activities (PROF)

1. Write articles

2. Attend courses for the judiciary
3. Attend professional meetings

4. l & 2

5. 2 & 3

6. l & 3

7. All three

8. Other

Memberships in professional organizations (PROO)
1. Bar association

. Judicial organization

. Women's bar association

. Drug or service group

1 & 2

1 & 4

2 & 4

Other

QOUIbUN

Nonprofessional organizations (AOO,BOO,COO)
1. Political parties

2. WOmen's organizations (i.e. NOW)

3. Church

4. Social (sorority, country club)

Column

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

ooqoxuwaw

113

Service (YWCA, Red Cross)

Arts groups (symphony, ballet)
Ethnic group (NAACP)

Other

ooqoxm
e e e e

Personal risk in being a judge (RISK)
1. Yes
2. No

WOmen's legal association near to belong to
(WLAS)

1. Is one and judge belongs

2. Is one and judge does not belong

3. Is not one nearby

Feministic activities (FEM)
1. Join organization

2. Write articles
. Contribute money
. Support the Equal Rights Amendment
. 3 & 4
. l & 4
. Other
. Not participating

Strength of feminism (SFEM)

1. None

2. Low--not personally involved

3. Medium--personally involved

4. High--put name on the line to support
feministic causes

Would advocate more women lawyers (MWL)
1. Yes
2. No

Would advocate more women judges (MWJ)
1. Yes
2. No

Sees change in number of women plaintiffs in
civil cases (WPC)

1. More

. Same

. Less

. Don't know

. Not applicable

UlubUN

[If E II ,trllk
( I [Elli [([lr I' .Inllllll

 

'i'llllllllli‘ln‘lli i ll l.lalllll‘lll.m

Column

49

50

51

52

53

54

114

Sees change in number of women defendants
in criminal cases (WDC)

. More

. Same

. Less

. Don't know

. Not applicable

woman-d

Feels she has equal promotional opportunities
in the judicial hierarchy (EQPR)

1. Yes

2. No--educational barrier

3. No--age barrier

4. No--sex barrier

5. No--politica1 barrier

6. No--Satisfied with.current:po$ition
7. Other

Occupational plans (OPLA)
l. Remain the same

. Retire

Advance in the judiciary
Return to law practice

. Other

U'lab-UJN
O.

ale age of majority (MAGE)
. 17
. l8
. 19
. 20
. 21

unacohahaz

Female age of majority (PAGE)
1. l7

2. l8

3. 19
4. 20
5. 21

ow judges should be selected (JSEL)
Appointed

Elected nonpartisanly

Elected partisanly

Missouri Plan

. Other

H
1
2
3
4
5

Column

55,56

57

58,59,60

61

62
63
64
65
66

115

Reasons for removing a judge (AREJ, BREJ)
. Age, senility

Misuse of office--abuse of authority
Private misconduct

Conviction of a crime
Incompetency--not fulfilling duties of
office

6. Other

U'l-bWNH
.0

Length judge's term of office should be (TEMO)
1. year

. years

years

years

years

years

10-15 years

life

ooqoxma-wm
comment—-

auses of crime (ACC, BCC, CCC)
Drugs

Alcohol

Poverty

Permissiveness, no discipline
Emotions, greed, frustration
Lack of useful education
Break down of the family

C
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 Other-~removal of death penalty

udge reflecting community standards (JCOM)
Not at all

Minor degree

Some, along with other factors

Major degree

Totally

Community values can not be determined
Varies from case to case

Other

m~ooume>unokdu
O O 0

Rank

reformation (REF)

general deterrence (GDET)
individual deterrence (IDET)
incapacitation (INC)
punishment (PUN)

Column

67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75

76
77
78
79
80

116

family background (FAM)

criminal record (CR)

employment record (ER)
intelligence (INT)

marital status (CMS)

ties in the community (TCOM)
mental condition (MC)

attitude to rehabilitation (ATT)
use of alcohol or drugs (AAD)

planning and premeditation (PAP)

culpability in other respects (CUL)

degree of personal injury or violence (INJU)
damage or loss to property (DAM)

offender's pmesent attitude to the offense
(ATTO)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

117

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. BOOKS

Amundsen, Kirsten. The Silenced Majority--Women and Ameri-
can Democracy. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 1971.

 

 

Astin, Hellen S. The Woman Doctorate in America. New York:
The Russell Sage Foundation, 1969.

 

Chafe, William Henry. The American Woman-—Her Changing
Social, Economic and Political Roles 1920-1970. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1972.

 

 

DeCrow, Karen. The Young Woman's Guide to Liberation.
New York: Pegasus Press, 1971.

 

Diamonstein, Barbaralee. Open Secrets: Ninety-Four Women
in Touch With Our Times. New York: Viking Press, 1970.

 

 

Ferris, Abbott L. Indicators of Trends in the Status of
American Women. New York: Russell Sage Foundation,
1971.

 

 

.Ginzberg, E. Life Styles of Educated Women. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1966.

 

, and Alice M. Yohalem. Educated American Women:
Self Portraits. New York: Columbia University Press,
1966.

 

 

Gruberg, Martin. Women in American Politics. Oshkosh,
Wisc.: Academia Press, 1968.

 

Hogarth, John. Sentencing as a Human Process. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1971.

 

James, Howard. Crisis in the Courts. New York: David
McKay Company, Inc., 1971.

 

Janeway, Elizabeth. Man's World, Woman's P1ace--A Study in
Social Mythology. New York: William Morrow and Co.,
Inc., 1971.

 

 

118

119

Kanowitz, Leo. Sex Roles in Law and Society. Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press, 1971.

. Women and the Law. Albuquerque: University of
New Mexico Press, 1969.

 

Korda, Michael. Male Chauvinism: How It Works. New York:
Random House, 1972.

Mead, Margaret, and Francis Bagley Kaplan, (eds.). American
Women: The Report of the President's CommiSsion on the
Status of Women and Other Publications of the Commis-
sion. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1965.

National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards
and Goals. Courts. Washington: Government Printing
Office, 1973.

President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administra-
tion of Justice. Task Force Report: The Courts.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1967.

Rossi, Alice S., and Ann Calderwood (eds.). Academic Women
on the Move. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1973.

 

Scott, Ann Firor (ed.). The American Woman: Who Was She?
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1971.

. Women in American Life. Boston: Houghton-
Mifflin Co., 1970.

 

Stuart, Martha, and William T. Liu (eds.). The Emegging
Woman: The Impact of Family_Planning. Bdston: Little
Brown and Co., 1970.

Tyler, Leona E. Psychology of Human Differences. New
York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1956.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. Statistical Profile of the
United States. Washington: Government Printing
Office, 1973.

 

Wasserstein, Bruce, and Mark J. Green (eds.). With
Justice for Some. Boston: Beacon Press, 1970.

 

 

120

B. METHODOLOGICAL MATERIAL

Babbie, Earl R. Survey Research Methods. Belmont, Ca.:
Wadsworth Publishing Co., Inc., 1973.

 

Forcese, Dennis P., and Stephen Richer. Social Research
Methods. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 1973.

 

Labowitz, Stanford, and Robert Hagedorn. Introduction to
Social Research. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company,
1971.

 

 

Myrdel, Gunnar. Objectivity in Social Research. New York:
Pantheon, 1969.

 

Nie, Norman, Dale H. Bent, and C. Hadlai Hull. Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences. New York: McGraw-
Hill Book Company, 1970.

 

 

Reynolds, Paul Davidson. A Primer in Theory Construction.
New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1971.

C. PERIODICALS

Abernathy, Maurine Howard. "Women Judges in United States
Courts," Women Lawyers Journal, LV (Spring, 1969),
57-58.

 

Barnes, Janette. "Women and Entrance to the Legal Profes-
sion," Journal of Legal Education, XXIII, 2 (1970), 276.

Bysiecwicz, Shirley Raissi. "1972 AALS Questionnaire on
Women in Legal Education," Journal of Legal Education,
XXV (1973), 503-13.

Dinerman, Beatrice. "Sex Discrimination in the Legal Pro-
fession," American Bar Association Journal, LV (October,
1969), 951-54.

Forer, Lois G. "Whither Women in the United States," Women
Lawyers Journal, LI (Winter, 1967), 4-14.

 

Goldman, Sheldon. "American Judges," Current History,

121

Jacobs, Alice D. "Women in Law School: Structural Con-
straint and Personal Choice in the Formation of Pro-
fessional Identity," Journal of Legal Education, XXIV
(1972), 462-71.

Kutner, Louis. "Overdue Due Process for Women Lawyers,"
Women Lawyers Journal, LIV (Summer, 1968), 7-12.

Sassower, Doris L. "The Role of Lawyers in Women's Lib,"
Case and Comment, LXXII (May, 1971), 9-18.

 

. "Women and the Judiciary: Undoing the Law of
the Creator," Judicature, LVII (February, 1974), 282-88.

 

 

. "Women and the Law: The Second Hundred Years,"
American Bar Association Journal, LVII (April, 1971),
329.

Scheldon, C. H. "Judicial Roles," California Western Law

 

Review, IX (Spring, 1973), 497-513.

Talley, Neva. "Women Lawyers of Yesterday, Today and
Tomorrow," Women Lawyers Journal, XLVI (Summer, 1960),
21.

"The Black Judge in America: A Statistical Profile,"
Judicature, LI (June-July, 1973), 18-25.

 

Wallard, Aleta. "Genesis of a 'Women and the Law' Course:
The Dawn of Consciousness at UCLA Law School," Journal
of Legal Education, XXIV, pp. 309-37.

White, James J. "Women in the Law," Michigan Law Review,
LXV (April, 1967), 1051-1122.

 

"Women in America," Daedalus, Journal of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, Spring, 1964.

"Women Lawyers Facing Discrimination," American Bar News,
XV (October, 1970).

 

"Women, Minority Students Up," Michigan State Bar Journal,
LIII (January, 1974).

D. MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS

American Bar Foundation. The 1971 Lawyer Statistical
Report. Chicago: American Bar Foundation, 1971.

122

 

Atcheson, Gordon. "Policewomen Walk the Beat Successfully
in Ann Arbor," Detroit Free Press, May 27, 1974,
p. 16A.

"Bias Lingers as Women Lawyers Seek New Heights," Detroit
Free Press, July 2, 1967, p. 1C.

 

"First Woman to Join High Court," Detroit Free Press,
November 9, 1972, p. 12A.

 

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October 13, 1973, p. 1B.

 

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123

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