Another recent study tracked the number of women working for the U.S. Supreme Court. At last count, Ruth "Egg Beater" Bader Ginsburg was the only woman on the bench (unless you count Souter). The bloggers over at Feminist Law Professors calculated that over the past few years, the number of female Supreme Court law clerks has dwindled from a handful to a thimbleful. In the 2004-2005 term, 15 of 35 clerks were female. During the past term, the number had dropped to 13 out of 37. Reports for the next term reveal that the number will drop again, to only 7 out of 35. Prettier Than Napoleon (formerly Class Maledictorian) took to analyzing this data on her law blog. She points out that while women constitute a majority of law students in America, they are still a minority in the highest-rated law schools. She figures that women are also slightly less likely to be selected for law review, as well as less likely to take circuit court clerkships. She's not totally sure if this is an institutional inequality issue or not, but the disparity is clear.
David Lat, the blogger who gained fame as the Article III Groupie from Underneath Their Robes is returning to the bright lights of the law blog universe after a brief respite. For the past several months, Lat has been writing as part of the popular political blog Wonkette. He announced this week that he will be leaving Wonkette and returning to law blogging full time with fellow blogger Elizabeth Spiers. Lat claims the new blog will focus on legal gossip.
Judge Donald M. Thompson, better known as the Oklahoma penis-pump judge, was found guilty last week of indecent exposure and using a penis pump while presiding over trials. He was also accused of peeing in a trash can. That's the part that really makes me wonder. Anyway, the salacious aspects of the case have prompted a lot of media attention, as well as some seriously stupid dirty puns (stiff sentences, hung jury, etc). Robert J. Ambrogi of Inside Legal Opinions expressed sympathy for the clearly troubled judge, whom he characterizes as having mental problems. The judge protested his innocence until the bitter end, but the evidence was stacked against him. There were witnesses, and the CSI folks found DNA on his robe. His female law clerk, who accused him of exposing himself, said she was traumatized for life by the incident. But it's all over now. Let's just move on. To add insult to injury, we won't even get a Rush Limbaugh/Viagra case to gawk at on CourtTV.
Next week, we will return with more exciting and informative (well, at least informative) news and reviews from the law blogosphere. Until then, keep your ears waxy.
