I am no third party advocate, to be sure, but there is one law, or rather, a provision in our state Constitution that I cannot stand. Even though Governor Markell is a Democrat, and even though we have a supermajority of Democrats in the State Senate, we have to nominate a Republican by law to the current vacany on the Court of Chancery, as the Governor did yesterday.
That provision’s proponents will say it ensures political balance on the court. Wait, I thought our courts are supposed to be apolitical, guided only by a disspassionate reading of the law? Isn’t that what the Republicans said in opposition to Sotomayor? Yes, I think it was. But now there has to be political balance on the court, and that is a good thing.
I view appointments to the Court, whether it be the Supreme Court or the Court of Chancery, a consequence of winning the Presidency or the Governorship. If a Democrat wins, then guess what, a justice or judge that conservatives will disagree with is going to be appointed. If a Republican wins, then guess what, I am not going to like the nominee. I hated Roberts and Alito, but was against any filibuster of them simply because Bush won the election in 2004.
This constitutional provision is nothing more than a two party protection racket. No matter how small and unrepresentative of the mainstream the GOP gets, it is guaranteed seats on the bench under our Constitution. That stinks to high heaven and should be repealed.