Citizens for Judicial Fairness (formerly Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware) is a grassroots advocacy organization fighting for transparency, equity, and accountability in state judiciaries across America. Founded by employees of TransPerfect Global in 2016 to fight the Delaware Chancery Court’s unprecedented forced sale of TransPerfect, the group has since grown to over 5,000 members nationwide.
HISTORY
Since its founding, Citizens for Judicial Fairness (CJF) has utilized grassroots pressure, strategic partnerships, and political advocacy to campaign for common-sense solutions to increase transparency and equity in Delaware’s court system.
CJF has been instrumental in the push for judicial equity in Delaware – including the appointment of Tamika Montgomery-Reeves to be the first African American woman justice in Delaware Supreme Court history – holding large-scale rallies and press conferences to call for diverse appointments to state courts and empowering everyday citizens to advocate for positive change.
CJF has rebranded to emphasize its evolution to an organization with a national footprint and holistic approach to highlighting gaps in representation and fighting for equity in the US courts and legal system.
PLATFORM
In Delaware, where CJF was founded and maintains its largest membership, CJF’s platform for judicial and legal fairness includes:
Establishing an independent Office of Inspector General with a degree of jurisdiction over the Chancery Court, which would ensure a rigorous and regular review process for auditing the Chancery Court’s decisions
Transforming the demographic makeup of Delaware’s top courts to ensure equitable representation of historically marginalized groups
Ensuring that appointed Members of Courts can’t serve on the Court of Judiciary, which has the power of judicial review
Ensuring that if a Justice of the Chancery Court appoints a custodian or a receiver to any Firm, Corporation or Officer of the Court for whom they were previously employed or shared business interests with, this conflict must be disclosed and consented to by both parties
Requiring that any custodian or receiver appointed by the Delaware Chancery Court itemize and make public a complete list of costs incurred because of acting in that capacity
Allowing a camera in the Chancery Court to ensure that a public record exists of the Court’s actions, allowing citizens and good government groups to audit the Court’s actions and deliberations to make sure they honor justice and transparency
Requiring ‘wheel spin’ in the Chancery Court so that Chancery Court Chancellors cannot select cases based on their own self-interest
Requiring financial disclosure by Delaware’s judges so the public can see the income they receive outside their judicial salaries, including investments, business and charitable affiliations and gifts
Creating new diversity programs to increase the recruiting and hiring of Black and brown police officers
Reforming the Delaware Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights to combat police misconduct