By Joseph Edelen

WILMINGTON — Calls for equity on Delaware’s Court of Chancery rang through the state’s largest city Tuesday as community activists and gubernatorial candidates joined the Rev. Al Sharpton to advocate for increased representation on the body.

Tuesday’s event followed the retirement announcement of Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock II on Feb. 16, which will go into effect Jan. 7, 2025.

Vice Chancellor Glasscock’s retirement will pave the way for new membership on the Court of Chancery, and with White people accounting for all seven seats on the court, advocates urged Gov. John Carney to diversify the panel.

“This governor will not appoint a diverse court. He has not decided to reflect what he claims he is about. Mouthing without words means nothing,” the Rev. Sharpton said while applauding President Joe Biden’s efforts to diversify circuit courts in the nation.

“Gov. Carney has an opportunity to diversify that court. He needs to do it right, or we need to keep the national spotlight that the son of Delaware is betrayed by the governor of Delaware when it comes to diversity.”

President Biden had appointed 145 judges to district courts, appeals courts and the U.S. Supreme Court as of Nov. 5, 2023; 95 were women and 96 were members of racial minority groups, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center.

The contrast between the president’s commitment to diversity in the federal judicial system and the current racial makeup of Delaware’s Court of Chancery was underscored by Collin O’Mara, a Democratic candidate for governor who formerly served as the state’s secretary of Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

“We’ve had more folks of color on the U.S. Supreme Court than we’ve had on Chancery Court and the state Supreme Court combined. That is insane,” he said. “We’ve had two people — two people in Delaware’s 240-year history. … This is the opportunity we have, and the outcomes reflect the lack of representation.”

Delaware’s Court of Chancery plays a vital role as an arbitrator in legal matters that deal with national, billion-dollar corporations. Its purpose is to provide “judicial relief to those left remediless because of the procedural rigidity, corruption, and inadequate enforcement machinery of the common law courts,” according to the state judiciary.

With Vice Chancellor Glasscock set to depart from the Court of Chancery next year, Gov. Carney will have an opportunity to continue strides to diversify Delaware’s courts.

Justice Tamika Montgomery-Reeves became the first Black person to serve on the Court of Chancery in 2015 following her appointment by former Gov. Jack Markell.

She served in that role until January 2020, when she was sworn in as the first Black member of the Delaware Supreme Court in state history after being nominated by Gov. Carney.

Justice Montgomery-Reeves was nominated by President Biden to serve on the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in February 2023, leaving an opening on the body. Her seat was filled by Justice N. Christopher Griffiths after being sworn in May 2023, as he became the second Black person to serve on the state’s highest court.

The importance of filling Vice Chancellor Glasscock’s seat on the bench with a diverse candidate was emphasized by New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, a Democratic candidate for governor, who said one of the most important steps the state can take is ensuring its government “looks like the neighborhoods that we serve.”

“That’s true, as Rev. Sharpton said and the people behind me, making sure we elect people who look like the communities across this city, this county and the state,” he said. “But it’s also true — maybe even more true — in the judicial branch, in our criminal justice system, in police officers, in correctional officers, in judges, in chancellors; making sure that we’re putting people in places to represent us who have the cultural competency to represent us.”

The Rev. Sharpton, alongside Wilmington City Councilperson Shané Darby and community advocate Kenadra McDole, also urged city residents to engage in the political process and vote.

Each of the speakers encouraged Black Delawareans who were not registered to vote to do so at a registration table and noted that participating in the political process can bring about real change in the First State’s judicial system.

The tenor of Tuesday’s event – which was organized by the nonprofit organization Citizens for Judicial Fairness — follows recent movements to diversify the state’s courts and address barriers minority populations face when seeking work in the judicial system.

The Delaware Bench and Bar Diversity Project was established by the state’s Supreme Court in 2021 to address diversity issues and to be a national model for other states’ courts to utilize. The strategic plan was released in January 2022, determining a number of legal career pathways and stating that a diverse court system is an “essential component of a fair and impartial legal system.”