The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that in 2000, 13 of the state's 55 judges -- or 24 percent -- were women. Today that total is still 13 female judges, but the state has 69 judges. The percentage has dropped to 19.
"It's a shame for the public," said District Court Judge Jane Kauvar, the only female state judge in Fairbanks. "The public has a right to feel that there is diversity."
A snapshot of the proportion of female judges in Alaska at the beginning of each decade since 1960 shows the proportion of women on the bench statewide is lower now than it was 20 years ago.
• 1960: none of the 12 judges in Alaska were women.
• 1970: 3 of 39, or 8 percent.
• 1980: 1 of 49, or 2 percent.
• 1990: 11 of 56, or 20 percent.
A study by the Alaska Judicial Council shows an increasing number of women are applying for judgeships in Alaska. Between 1984 and 1988, 15 percent of all applicants were women. The rate was 28 percent between 2003 and 2007.
Judges in Alaska are appointed by the governor from a short list of qualified candidates. The rate of women making those lists is also increasing.
Between 2003 and 2007, almost a third of the people to make the short list for judicial openings were women. But during that same period, only 16 percent of the judicial appointments in Alaska went to women.
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