Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit denied Governor John Carney’s appeal of Delaware’s ridiculous and unconstitutional Judicial Balance law, which required that all the courts of the state be as evenly divided as possible between Democrats and Republicans. The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware had previously ruled that the requirement was unconstitutional because it denied members of other minor parties and/or Independents from being appointed as judges in Delaware.
If Carney wants to appeal now, he will have to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. And I doubt the Supreme Court would even take up the case if Carney did appeal.
This is a good result, because now elections will have consequences in Delaware. For 26 years, the citizens of the First State have refused to elect a Republican as Governor. One of the consequences of elections is that, like at the federal level, the Governor gets to appoint the judges he or she wants.
By all rights, the entire judiciary of the state should be filled with judges appointed by Democrats. Some may be Republicans. Some may be independents. That of course is the Governor’s (and the Senate’s through the confirmation process) choice. There should not be a law forcing his or her hand to pick a Republican. And Republicans should not be rewarded with representation on the courts they did not earn or deserve.
I agree, as noted the bench would be solidly Dem by now but for this law, it essentially negates the democratic process and the results there of.
I’ve never seen an executive of any government go to court to advocate for limiting the discretion of their office. This guy will do anything to preserve the Delaware Way.