The pew and the bench: The dynamics of religious affiliations of federal court judges

Abstract

ObjectiveA critical area of study of the federal courts includes those who serve on the nation's highest tribunals. While most studies of judicial diversity address the crucial issues of race or gender, we examine the cross‐time dynamics of religious affiliations within the federal courts in the United States to more broadly encompass the concept of diversity.MethodsWe analyze over two centuries of data on the religious affiliations of judges on the District Courts and Courts of Appeals, as well as that of justices on the Supreme Court, by employing descriptive data derived from public sources and our own survey instrument, and multivariate time‐series models.ResultsOur mixed‐method analyses show that the federal courts, traditionally the near‐exclusive province of Protestants, have grown more religiously diverse over time. We illustrate that specific, salient political events, including President Wilson's appointment of Supreme Court Justice Brandeis in 1916 and the elections of Presidents Kennedy in 1960 and Carter in 1976, directly influenced the dynamics of religious affiliations in the federal courts.ConclusionsThe ascent of religious diversity in the federal courts was neither smooth nor inevitable. By incorporating the notion of belonging as a measure of religious identity and affiliation, we exhibit that a multifaceted process over time transformed religious diversity in the federal courts.