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Dispatches from public radio's correspondent at the Oregon Legislature. This is a venue for political and policy coverage of the state government in Salem and its impact on the people of Oregon.

Oregon's Supreme Court Will Be Majority Female For The First Time

Office of the governor
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown will appoint Rebecca A. Duncan to the Oregon Supreme Court to replace Justice David Brewer.

The Oregon Supreme Court will be majority female for the first time in the state's history starting next month. That distinction will come when Rebecca Duncan takes her seat next month.

Gov. Kate Brown is appointing Duncan to replace Justice David Brewer, who retires in June. Duncan was a public defender when Governor Ted Kulongoski appointed her to the Oregon Court of Appeals in 2010.

After Duncan is sworn in, four women and three men will sit on Oregon's highest court. That's a first in the state's 158 year history, but it's far from unprecedented nationally. Nearly a dozen other states have majority female Supreme Courts.

In Olympia, six of the nine members of the Washington Supreme Court are women.