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Evidence Fall 2022
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OPTIONAL: Behind the State Bench (Report)

National & state-by-state analysis of the legal careers of every state supreme court justice in America, with information on court vacancies, elections, candidates, and selection processes

Prof. Nina Chernoff

Key findings include:

  • 139 of 346 (40.2%) active state supreme court (or highest-court equivalent) justices are former prosecutors, while only 35 (10.2%) are former public defenders — a ratio of 4 to 1. 

  • Only 22 justices (6.4%) are former civil rights lawyers, and only 13 (3.8%) have civil rights experience outside of government. Only 6 justices worked at a civil rights org advocating civil rights or providing legal services to poor clients. 

  • 48 states and D.C. have at least one former prosecutor on the highest court (only DE and WY do not); 24 states and D.C. have at least one former public defender.

  • 17 states have 50% or more former prosecutors, while only Montana has at least 50% former public defenders.

  • One high court—Oklahoma’s Court of Criminal Appeals—is 100% former prosecutors, as is the current non-temporary bench on the New Jersey Supreme Court. No court is 100% former public defenders or a combination of former public defenders and civil rights lawyers. 

OPTIONAL: Behind the State Bench (Report)

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