Demographics of the Class of 2008: Teaching Blue State Law Students in a Red State Law School

With most law schools having already started classes or starting this week, I thought it would be interesting to share some demographic information from the entering law school class of 2008 at Cincinnati.  I taught a section of 43 incoming 1Ls in our week-long Introduction to Law course last week, and asked them a series of anonymous demographic questions via eInstruction handhelds (I explain the pedagogy behind the use of this technology in law schools in Taking Back the Law School Classroom: Using Technology to Foster Active Student Learning, 54 J. Legal Educ. 551 (2004), as recounted in the New York Times here).  Some of the interesting results:

What is your political party affiliation?

• 55% Democrat
• 23% Republican
• 20% Independent
• 2% Other

Whom did you support in the 2004 Presidential election?

• 61% John Kerry
• 32% George Bush
• 7% Other

The current U.S. Supreme Court is:

• 7% Too Liberal
• 52% Too Conservative
• 41% Just Right

How would you describe your judicial philosophy?

• 11% Very Liberal
• 32% Somewhat Liberal
• 41% Moderate
• 11% Somewhat Conservative
• 5% Very Conservative