Delaware Courts Close in Honor of Juneteenth While Courts Remain Overwhelmingly White Despite Activist Demands

Delaware’s Bench and Bar Diversity Project to create equity on courts has taken no action since announcement and failed to respond to request for meeting from civil rights leaders Reverend Al Sharpton and Pastor Blaine Hackett

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, all Delaware state courts will be closed to honor the new federal holiday signed into law by President Biden, Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery. Meanwhile, Delaware’s courts have minimal Black representation, and the Chancery Court has no racial diversity at all. Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware has for years been fighting for transparency and diversity in the judicial system where the state ranked 48^th in transparency from the Center for Public Integrity, and only appointed its first Black justice to the State Supreme Court one year ago.

Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Campaign Manager Chris Coffey released the following statement:

“It’s a long overdue step for the federal government to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday and I admire President Biden’s leadership. But in Biden’s home state of Delaware, Governor John Carney and state leaders have fallen far, far behind. Despite pressure from activists and civil rights leaders across the state, Carney and other leaders have failed to take the steps necessary to actually increase diversity in the state’s courts. It is the height of hypocrisy for Delaware’s state courts to close for Juneteenth while the state’s newly formed Bench and Bar Diversity Projects continues to ignore requests for a meeting from diversity activists Reverend Al Sharpton and Pastor Blaine Hackett. Once again, Delaware’s elites are choosing talk over action and PR stunts over on-the-ground engagement. We won’t stop pushing until we see real action for diversity and justice.”