WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today – as the Delaware Chancery Court is set to begin hearing arguments in the case of Twitter v. Musk, Delaware-based judicial watchdog group Citizens for Judicial Fairness is announcing that its main advocacy partner, legendary civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, will be available for comment to the media regarding the court’s beleaguered status.
To reach Rev. Sharpton for comment as an expert on the Delaware Chancery Court, please contact Chris Coffey, Executive Director of Citizens for Judicial Fairness at ccoffey@tuskholdings.com.
Over the past several years, Rev. Sharpton has worked with Citizens for Judicial Fairness to highlight the court’s lacking diversity, and its archaic and opaque practices. Notable criticisms include:
- A Court Sorely Lacking Diversity. The Chancery Court of Delaware has only had one black judge (Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves) in its 230 year history with Delaware’s entire judicial system plagued by a lack of diversity. People of color, who represent nearly 40% of Delaware's population, make up just 15% of the judges who sit on the state's top courts, but comprise 62% of the state's incarcerated population. Because of a secretive, rigged process, Delaware's judicial nominations continue to promote the interests of an elite few at the expense of Delaware's diverse population & companies.
- Handpicked judges for cases. Unlike most other courts across our country and the federal government, the Chancery Court does not use randomized wheel spin for case assignments. Currently, Chancery Court Chancellors are free to select cases based on their own self-interest. This leads to corrupt practices much like former Chancer Bouchard’s decision to appoint former employer Skadden Arps as custodian for a high-profile case that charged millions in unfair fees. To make matters worse, there are no cameras in the courts for public records or accountability.
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Decisions Based on Connections, not Facts. The Delaware Judges’ Code of Judicial Conduct, notably, does not prohibit any activity upon the judges’ resignation, such as taking a job at a corporate law firm that the former judge dealt with while on the bench. The result?
- Leo Strine Jr.: Skadden Arps --> Supreme Court Chief Justice --> of counsel at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Strine, who was recently hired by Twitter Inc., was once rebuked by the Delaware Supreme Court for insensitive comments, a stunning and rare formal criticism that reinforced Strine’s long history of opining wildly from the bench rather than focusing on the case at hand and using his authority to protect diverse employees.
- Stephen Lamb: Skadden Arps --> Chancery Court Chancellor --> of counsel at Paul, Weiss
- Andre Bouchard: Skadden Arps --> Chancery Court Chancellor --> partner at Paul, Weiss
- Egregious Mistakes. But no Reform. In a truly preposterous outcome in Ingres Corp. v. CA Inc., a 2010 breach of contract case where both sides agreed (when does that happen?!) the judge had erred. Vice Chancellor Leo E. Strine Jr. said, “I forgot this oral statement and delved only into the voluminous record. As indicated above, this record was confusing and I came away from it with the wrong impression. ...I overlooked this deposition testimony and instead focused upon the written documents in the record when drafting the Post-Trial Opinion. In short, I blew it.” He goes on, “my original factual finding to the contrary was inaccurate.” Yet, Strine, even after admitting how his significant error impacted his prior conclusion, decides the error does not materially change the outcome of the case.
RECENT ACTIVISM BY CITIZENS FOR JUDICIAL FAIRNESS
- Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III & DE Pastor Blaine Hackett call for diversity on the Chancery Court
- Rev. Sharpton Rallies in Delaware for Police Reform with Keandra Ray, DE police reform activist
- Keandra Ray Slams Gov. Carney for nominating another white Chancery judge
- Councilwoman Shanè Darby joins Citizens movement for transparency and accountability
- Citizens Group Rebrands to focus on judicial fairness and transparency
- Rev. Sharpton calls on Carney to follow Biden’s example on judicial diversity
- Rev. Sharpton calls on Musk to see help expose shady dealings in Delaware
Citizens for Judicial Fairness, formerly known as Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware, has been advocating for transparency, accountability, and diversity in the Chancery Court since the unprecedented forced sale of TransPerfect Global, a profitable translation and language services company, by Chancery Court Chancellor Andre Bouchard. The sale resulted in a disastrous court-appointed custodianship by Skadden Arps’ Robert Pincus, who bilked TransPerfect for tens of millions of dollars without saying why or what for. Sharpton, CJF, and activists have been vocal about their demands for justice systems that work for diverse everyday employees rather than legal and corporate elites.
