By Marcia M. Meis, Director, Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts
March is National Women’s History Month. Established in 1995 (although its roots began decades earlier), the month celebrates the contributions that women have made to the United States. This year’s theme is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.”
While there are countless contributions of women to the legal profession in general, I focus here on the dramatic changes in the representation of women on state high courts. Data collected in February 2025 by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) shows continued increases in the number of female judges sitting on state courts of last resort. A snapshot of changes just from 2024 to 2025:
- 43% of state courts of last resort justices are women, up from 41% one year ago.
- The number of states with over 40% female courts of last resort justices increased from 35 to 36.
- States with over 50% female courts of last resort justices increased from 15 to 20 in 2025.
The state which continues to hold the highest percentage of female justices in a state court of last resort is Wisconsin at 86%. Alaska has 80%. Illinois, Michigan, and Nevada have 71%.
These increases follow the upward trend of female representation in state courts of last resort shown in prior years. NCSC data from 2019 to 2025 marks these trends:
|
|
Female Chief Justices
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Female Justices
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Courts with >40% Female Justices
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Courts with >50% Female Justices
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2019
|
16
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35.4%
|
24
|
11
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2025
|
26
|
42.6%
|
36
|
20
|
As for chief justice positions on courts of last resort, there were 21 states that had female chief justices in 2024. In 2025, 26 states have female chief justices.
And the 71% mentioned earlier for Illinois? That percentage represents the five women Justices on our Illinois Supreme Court: Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, Justice Lisa Holder White, Justice Joy V. Cunningham, Justice Elizabeth M. Rochford, and Justice Mary K. O’Brien.
The Supreme Court looks very different from when I became a lawyer in 1990. There were no female Justices on the Illinois Supreme Court, although that changed shortly thereafter when Justice Mary Ann McMorrow ascended to the Court in 1992.
I don’t reflect on these facts very often, even though I meet with the Supreme Court frequently and I see the changes before me right in the room. Having women in positions of leadership just seems normal to me. But this progress should be reflected on and celebrated. As this year’s theme suggests, we need to “Educate and Inspire Generations” on the contributions of women.
“Educating and inspiring generations” is one of the objectives of the Illinois Supreme Court’s public events “Riding the Circuit.” The most recent such event, last week at SIU-Carbondale, was before a packed auditorium of nearly 900 people. The Court heard two very interesting cases on their docket before an audience made up largely of SIU law students and local area high school students. Who knows how many of the young women among them will decide to pursue a judicial career because of
who
they saw on the bench. As they say, if you see it, you can be it.