Saying that it is a "detriment to our judicial system that there are parts of the state where there are virtually no judges of color and few women on the bench," the state Senate Judiciary Committee chairman on Monday introduced legislation in Albany that would require the Office of Court Administration to collect, compile and publish an annual report on demographic information about New York's judges and justices.

Brad Hoylman, a Democrat representing part of Manhattan, was joined in announcing the new legislation by its co-sponsor, Sen. Luis Sepulveda, a Bronx Democrat and the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Judicial Diversity.

The two senators put out a joint news release Monday about their bill, S-7703.

Sen. Luis R. Sepúlveda, D-Bronx. Photo: Hans Pennink/AP

The legislation's aim, said Hoylman in the release, is to require the collection and publication of judges' demographic information as a way of beginning "to fully understand and remedy this problem" of parts of the state having almost no judges of color and few women judges.

The language of the bill, as currently drafted, would require the OCA to ask state-paid judges and justices each year for information on their race or ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status and disability status. The bill's language also says that a judge or justice's compliance with the annual request for demographic information about them would be "entirely voluntary."

"In order for New Yorkers to continue to have confidence in the judiciary, we need to ensure that the diversity of our judges reflect the rich diversity of our state's population," Hoylman said in the news release.

Added Sepulveda, "To be truly just, our judicial system must include the voices and perspectives of all communities it affects."

He also said, "For too long New York State's broad diversity has not been reflected in its judiciary, perpetuating systems of inequality and marginalization."

In a statement released on Monday by Henry Greenberg, the New York State Bar Association's president said he supported the bill and that "we are far from our goal of making sure that the judiciary—particularly outside of New York City—truly represents the diversity of this great state."

He also said the collection of the demographic information called for in the bill would amount to "an important and necessary first step for making sure all of New York's residents know that they can find justice in a judiciary that is a reflection of their lives."

The legislation is modeled after a similar step taken in California, Hoylman noted.