CLS: DR. MELISSA K. MILLER

DR. MELISSA K. MILLER | PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY

“Women on the Supreme Court” 

In 234 years since the establishment of the United States Supreme Court, six women have served as Supreme Court justices. From Sandra Day O’Connor to Ketanji Brown Jackson, they represent the upper echelon of women in the legal profession. Together they comprise just five percent of all justices to ever serve on the nation’s highest court. This presentation will examine their paths to the Supreme Court in the context of growing women’s representation in the legal profession, rising numbers of women on the federal bench, and ever-increasing partisan polarization within America’s political institutions. Once on the Supreme Court, women justices each cast a single vote, just like their male counterparts, on cases that come before the court. Is there reason to believe they utilize different legal reasoning than their male counterparts, or that their presence on the court leads to different case outcomes? The answer may surprise you.

Dr. Melissa Miller is a Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University and an expert on women in politics. She was awarded the Faculty Senate’s Community Engagement Award in recognition of her extensive public engagement activities. Dr. Miller is also a Master Teacher – the highest teaching honor on campus.
Dr. Miller is frequently interviewed by the media on state and national politics. She has appeared in/on ABC News, CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, and The Guardian, among others. She currently serves as Political Analyst for 13abc Action News in Toledo. Dr. Miller’s research appears in Politics & Gender, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, and American Politics Research, among others. She is Executive Producer of Trailblazing Women in Ohio Politics, a forthcoming WBGU-PBS documentary. Dr. Miller holds a B.A. from Cornell, a Master of Public Policy from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern.