Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Files Freedom of Information Act Request to Reveal Judicial Nominating Commission....

The Secretive Commission Does Not Disclose Its Members Despite Having Outsize Impact on Judicial Representation in Delaware

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the Delaware Governor’s Office to reveal the members of the 12-person Judicial Nominating Commission, which is tasked with recommending nominees to fill judicial vacancies on the Delaware Supreme Court, Court of Chancery, Superior Court, Family Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Peace Courts.

The Commission, which is ordered by law to “reflect the broad diversity of the citizenry of Delaware,” is nonetheless completely hidden from public view, making it impossible for concerned citizens to ascertain how it fills that order. Moreover, Governor John Carney has hidden behind the Commission to defend his own non-diverse appointments to fill court vacancies, telling WBOC in 2020 that “I can only appoint individuals who are sent before me by the Judicial Nominating Committee.”