Sharpton, MLK III ask Biden to urge diverse judicial nominations in Delaware

Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III are imploring President Biden to press the Democratic governor in his home state of Delaware to appoint more Black judges to the state bench.  

In particular, the two civil rights activists want to see Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) nominate a Black person to fill a forthcoming vacancy on Delaware’s Chancery Court, which resolves business disputes, and they are asking Biden to use his influence in the state to make that happen in a letter to the president, a copy of which was obtained exclusively by The Hill. 

“While we are devoted to ensuring the success of your nominations to the federal judiciary, we ask that you use your influence as President of the United States to urge diverse judicial nominations at the state level, beginning in your home state of Delaware,” the pair writes in the letter to Biden, which is also signed by Blaine Hackett, a pastor in Newark, Del. They are expected to formally send the letter Wednesday. 

The group writes that Carney’s recent judicial appointments have “failed to live up to democratic ideals of equal representation,” citing analysis showing under 15 percent of justices on the state’s highest courts are Black.