The Arizona Attorney Magazine web blog has an excellent recap of the “Diversity Considerations in Judicial Merit Selection” panel that HighGround Sr. Vice President Doug Cole served on at the State Bar yesterday. Here is an excerpt:
Doug Cole echoed the position that commissioners are charged with looking at the whole applicant, not just a narrow slice of their resume. He amused the audience with some responses that he has found most surprising to Question 64 – the query found on the judicial application in merit-selection jurisdictions that requires applicants to describe their experience with diversity -again, a constitutional requirement.
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- “I am white and male.”(That was the complete response.)
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- “I have friends who are diverse.” (I shortened the actual response, but not by much.)
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- “Not applicable.”
Cole said that such responses miss the point, because diversity and facing adversity may occur in anyone’s life.
“The best applicants’ answers may be moving and touching, including life experiences and important turning points in people’s lives.”
So yes, Cole said, if you’re a white male, you still may have a good understanding of diversity.