Protesters Had Freedom of Speech Denied Yet Maintained Protests Outside of School Grounds
Yesterday, grassroots activists partnered with Citizens for Judicial Fairness volunteers to protest an event with all-white panels of current and former Delaware Supreme Court Justices and other corporate legal elites in Newark, Delaware. The peaceful protesters, who were there to draw attention to the Delaware court system’s egregious lack of diversity and the failure of influential former judges like Leo Strine to speak up in favor of diverse courts, had their freedom of speech attacked by University of Delaware campus police who forced them off the grounds of the campus.
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CJF protesters were removed from campus (Photo: Business Wire)
Nevertheless, the group continued its protests peacefully at the entrance to the campus to continue pushing for accountability in Delaware’s highest courts, including the all-white Chancery Court and all-white Supreme Court. Citizens for Judicial Fairness has run a campaign to urge Governor John Carney to nominate two justices of color to fill two impending vacancies on the Delaware Supreme Court to follow through on his commitment to diversify the state’s judiciary.
Said grassroots activist and protest leader Keandra McDole, “We know that outsiders like us who are trying to shake up the system are typically not welcome in the halls of power, but we should at least have our right to freedom of speech protected. While that wasn’t the case yesterday, we know that our message came through loud and clear: Delaware needs Black judges and to end our infamous tradition of all-white courts. We won’t let legal elites like Leo Strine be complacent or comfortable with the current pathetic state of affairs on our courts. We will continue to show up throughout the state and nationwide to let those in power know that we cannot be ignored, and that the people of Delaware will not lay down and accept all-white courts that cannot possibly represent them fairly.”
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