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Percentage of female judges slips in Alaska

Story last updated at 3/15/2010 - 9:16 am

The Associated Press

FAIRBANKS – The percentage of judges who are female in Alaska has slipped in the past decade, even as more women apply for the bench.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that in 2000, 13 of the state’s 55 judges — or nearly 24 percent — were women. Today there are still 13 female judges, but there are 69 judges in the state. The percentage has dropped to just under 19 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.

District Court Judge Jane Kauvar is the only female judge in Fairbanks. She says the dearth of women on the bench is a shame for the public, which has a right to expect diversity in the legal system.