On the Straight and Narrowly Tailored: The Third Circuit Walks a Fine Line Between the Judiciary and Politics in Adams v. Governor of Delaware

This Casebrief examines the Third Circuit’s decision in Adams v. Governor of Delaware and argues that the court correctly struck down Delaware’s judicial appointment system insofar as it conditioned eligibility for certain judgeships on political party affiliation. While endorsing the decision, the Casebrief contends that the court gave insufficient attention to Delaware’s interest in maintaining a politically balanced judiciary. It concludes that Delaware can preserve bipartisan judicial appointments through less restrictive means without excluding independent and third-party candidates from judicial service.[This abstract was written by Microsoft Copilot, a generative artificial intelligence.]