Following the recent retirement announcement of Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights III from Delaware’s Court of Chancery, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware is announcing the launch of a six-figure advertising campaign calling on Governor Carney to nominate a Black vice chancellor.
Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware released a new television advertisement, “Join Our Voices,” featuring national civil rights leaders Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, as well as local faith leader Pastor Blaine Hackett. The ad calls on Carney to appoint a Black to the Chancery Court.
Chancery Court handles corporate law cases as well as guardianships,
The vacancy left by Slights’ retirement gives Gov. Carney his third opportunity to appoint a Black member of Chancery Court. Vice Chancellor Tamika Montgomery-Reeves left the court in January of 2020 to become justice on the state Supreme Court.
Martin Luther King III, stated, “To ensure Governor Carney follows President Biden’s footsteps in diversifying the judiciary, I am proud to be working side by side with local activists and judicial advocacy groups to fight for diversified courts in Delaware, because we know that leadership at the top does not just filter down naturally. The transcendent change we wish to realize will take an extraordinary effort to accomplish, an effort that every American should fight to make, from city halls to statehouses to the Supreme Court.”
“We are grateful to Rev. Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and Pastor Hackett for lending their voices to this powerful movement for long-overdue change in Delaware’s top courts,” stated Chris Coffey, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware campaign manager We urge Governor Carney to do the right thing this spring by appointing a Black justice to replace Vice Chancellor Slights and help begin restoring trust in the Court of Chancery. Rev. Sharpton is right, there is a movement for diversity building from the Supreme Court of the United States down – it’s time for Delaware to join this movement.”
Citizens was formed during a dispute handled by Chancery Court over ownership of TransPerfect, a New York-based translation and business services firm. The organization in recent years has focused on diversity and other matters in Chancery Court.
On Tuesday, a report was released by Montgomery-Reeves and Chief Justice Collins Seitz on improving diversity throughout the state court system. (See below).
