One-third of active judges are women
About onethird of Pennsylvania’s current active judges are women, according to statistics compiled by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
State court officials recently released data highlighting the number of women judges at all levels of the state’s court system.
As of February, 32% of Pennsylvania’s active judges are women, according to the data.
There are 158 women judges on Common Pleas Courts statewide, comprising about 37% of the statewide total.
Eighteen women serve as president judges in the Courts of Common Pleas, including in Montgomery and Berks counties.
Montgomery County Judge Carolyn Tornetta Carluccio was unanimously elected by her colleagues to be president judge and became the first woman in county history to lead the county bench when her term began in January 2022.
The significance of being the first woman to lead the county bench was not lost on Carluccio.
“I feel great pride and it’s a great honor that I was chosen to do that. There is an impact there whether I realize it or not,” Carluccio said during a 2021 interview shortly after her peers elected her president judge.
“As we all achieve different things, somebody is looking at you and there’s somebody watching what you do and people get strength from watching someone else. That would be my message, if I can do it, you can do it,” Carluccio, who was elected to the bench in 2009 and won retention in 2019, said at the time. “You have to have passion and you have to work hard and the support of others means an awful lot too and I’ve had a lot of support along the way.”
History was made in Berks County in January when Judge M. Theresa Johnson was unanimously selected by her peers as the first woman to be president judge.
At the time, Berks County Bar Association President Gabriela Raful said Johnson’s installation as president judge was inspiring for lawyers and the community, especially at a time when a growing number of women are joining the bench.
“This is a watershed moment for Berks County that’s been 270 years in the making,” Raful said in a statement at the time. “I applaud the board of judges for promoting diverse leadership and ensuring our judicial system reflects the community it serves.”
Raful added that while young people are accustomed to a growing number of females joining the bench, Johnson’s election as president judge marked the first time since the creation of the Berks County Court system in 1752 that a female has been selected as president judge.
“It is important for young women, young men, and everyone in the community to see a female take on our court’s top leadership position,” Raful said in the statement released on Jan. 6. “President Judge Johnson is a well-respected leader, and our association is confident that she will uphold a standard of excellence while administering the court system and guaranteeing equal access to justice for all. She is truly an inspiration to future generations.”
In Montgomery County, currently there are 23 fulltime judges sitting in the Court of Common Pleas and three senior judges. Eleven of those judges are women.
In Chester County, there are 12 full-time judges sitting in the Court of Common Pleas and three senior judges, according to the court’s website. Six of those judges are women.
There are currently 12 judges on the Berks County Court of Common Pleas and five are women, according to the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania.
There are three women serving on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, according to the AOPC. They include Chief Justice Debra Todd; Justice Christine Donohue; and Justice Sallie Updyke Mundy.
Todd is the first woman in the Supreme Court’s 300-year history to serve as chief justice.
The majority of state Superior and Commonwealth Court judges are women, with 10 women serving on Superior Court and seven women serving on Commonwealth Court, according to the AOPC data.
The AOPC highlights the work of the courts with data and statistics obtained through the judiciary’s case management systems, interactive dashboards and other research.