Bench diversity stats mislead on disabled numbers

In the March 6 letter to the editor, "Article on Brown's judge picks only gave partial picture," Evan Westrup extols Gov. Jerry Brown's appointments to the California bench. Westrup, who is the governor's press secretary, states that Brown's picks "are by far the most diverse in the history of the state." As to some affected groups that may be true. But not for all groups, especially those with disabilities.

Westrup cites an 18 percent appointment rate for those with disabilities who applied as history making. Unfortunately, that statistic is misleading without any context. Only two persons with disability were appointed to the bench in 2017 in the entire state of California. From 2011 to 2017, only five persons with a disability were appointed.

Even if the governor's appointments are the "most diverse" in history, that just shows how far we need to go to ensure those with disabilities are fairly considered. What is apparent is the governor has no public plan to address the critical shortage of those with disabilities on the bench. That is clear because 19 percent of Americans report a disability and in a 2013 survey by the American Bar Association, 8 percent of attorneys reported a disability (underreporting is common as people are afraid of discrimination from revealing a disability).

The problem is obvious. The reported results confirm the underrepresentation of those with disabilities. So what should be done by the governor? Leave the "problem" to the next governor? Or acknowledge the problem exists. Empower the appointments secretary to reach out to the disabled community for qualified applicants. Establish a plan with real measureable deliverables to address the under representation. Lastly, hold someone accountable if the plan fails. That's called leadership.