The numbers would seem to bear out the complaint. Pennsylvania has never had a female governor or U.S. senator. Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll holds the highest office any woman has ever attained in the state. Only one of the 19 members of our congressional delegation, Rep. Allyson Schwartz of Philadelphia, is female. A second, Melissa Hart, was defeated for re-election in 2006.

Bennington noted that while there are 11 Democratic women in the state House of Representatives, there's not one in a leadership position. She and Rep. Chelsa Wagner were the first women from the city of Pittsburgh ever elected to the state House - and that was in 2006.

Locally, the boards of commissioners in Washington and Greene counties each have one female member and the city of Washington has a single female council member. Our two counties have never sent a woman either to Congress or the Legislature.

Despite all this, a recent report on "The Sate of the Commonwealth's Courts, 2008," issued by Ronald D. Castille, chief justice of Pennsylvania, states, "The Superior Court and Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania have become national showcases for the advancement of women in the judiciary," and backs up the claim with facts.

Women have comprised a majority on Commonwealth Court for several years. This year, they became a majority on Superior Court as well with the elections of Judges Cheryl Lynn Allen, Christine Donohue and Jacqueline Shogan. Both courts are headed by female president judges - Kate Ford Elliott of Superior Court and Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter of Commonwealth Court. The Supreme Court itself has only one female member - Debra M. Todd, who was elected in 2007. Justice Sandra Schultz Newman retired in 2006 after narrowly escaping defeat in a retention election that followed the controversial state pay raise.

Here at home, three of the six judges on Washington County Court are female, including President Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca.

Why the judiciary is the exception to the reputed "old boys club" is anybody's guess because they are chosen by the same electorate that fills other offices with men. Still, it is worth quoting Castille's report: "Few states can make such a dramatic showing for the advancement of women in the courts ... (especially) as an expression of the public will."

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