Strine v. Lavelle

I remember back with Governor Markell nominated Chief Justice Leo Strine, some wrote that Strine may be too brash to fill the normally stoic and silent role of a Delaware Chief Justice. I thought of that when I heard that a war of words has erupted today between Senate Minority Leader Greg Lavelle (R) and Chief Justice Strine.

[Lavelle] called out [Strine] on the floor of the Delaware Senate[!!!], saying Strine owes law enforcement an explanation, “if not an apology,” for comments on Monday that Lavelle said inappropriately compared Delaware’s rate of incarceration to North Korea.

Strine delivered the remarks to a Chase Center crowd on Monday at a Delaware State Bar Association breakfast honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The chief justice said Delaware can’t “incarcerate our way to public safety” and noted “shocking disparities” for blacks in Delaware.

Strine added, “You don’t want to be in a state where incarceration rates are associated with North Korea.”

Lavelle wants Strine to apologize for that? Pardon my french, Mr. Lavelle, but go fuck yourself. The Chief Justice owes no apology to anyone. You, however, owe an apology to all Delaware citizens for trying to create a false controversy. Strine’s office bitchslapped Lavelle as well with the following statement:

A spokesman for Strine suggested Lavelle should have called the chief justice with concerns, saying he took the remarks out of context.

“The Chief Justice’s remarks at the Martin Luther King Jr. day breakfast focused on our incarceration rates, which have a lot more to do with criminal sentencing laws than the work done by our hard working police officers,” said Sean O’Sullivan, a spokesman for Strine.

“Even more important, the Chief Justice thinks that the murder and violence rate in and around our largest city is exacting a human toll on the innocent and hurting our states’ economic future. If others think that things are OK, that is up to them. The Chief Justice does not. He believes we have to care enough about our community to talk candidly and openly about the real issues.”

Added O’Sullivan, “The Chief Justice also has great respect for Sen. Lavelle and is surprised the senator did not reach out for context to him or his staff.”

Lavelle is revealing himself to be quite the flaming idiot of a Republican. As for Chief Justice Strine, keep doing what you are doing. We need more brashness in Delaware.