SUPERIOR COURT—HISTORY
Superior Court's History
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| Historic New Castle County Courthouse |
Superior
Court's heritage can be traced back more than 339 years to December 6, 1669
when John Binckson and two others were tried for treason for leading an
insurrection against colonists loyal to England in favor of the King of
Sweden.
The red sash worn by High Courts of that time is worn today by the judges
on ceremonial occasions. The law courts, which represent today's Superior
Court jurisdiction, go back as far as 1831.
They included Superior Court, which heard civil matters, the Court
of General Sessions, which heard criminal matters, and the Court
of Oyer and Terminer, which heard capital cases and consisted of all
four law judges for the other two courts.
In 1951, the Court of Oyer and Terminer and the Court of General
Sessions were abolished and their jurisdictions were combined in today's
Superior Court.
The court's presiding judge was renamed president judge. There were five
Superior Court judges in 1951; there are nineteen today. Sessions of Superior
Court are held in each of the three counties at the county seat.
The Honorable E. Norman Veasey, former Chief Justice of Delaware, has described
the Superior Court this way in his article, "The Drama of Judicial
Branch Change in this Century", Delaware Lawyer, Vol. 17, No.
4, Winter 1999/2000.
"The Superior Court has always been the bellwether court of general
jurisdiction in Delaware. Recent management innovations such as electronic
filing, drug court, case management technology, arbitration, mediation,
summary procedures, videoconferencing, jury reform and other advances have
only added to its nationwide reputation for excellence.
Criminal cases, including death cases, crowd its docket, complicate its
ability to move cases expeditiously and present the judges of that court
with vexing challenges of meeting speedy trial and disposition guidelines
consistent with quality adjudication.
The Court's jurisprudence and case management in civil litigation is exemplary,
with particular emphasis in the late 1980s and 1990s in the businesslike
handling of complex, national insurance coverage litigation, during which
period the Court became a national innovator in electronic filing."
View a complete listing of all judges at: Superior
Court Judges from 1831.
For more information on the history of the Superior Court: The
Superior Court by the Honorable Henry duPont Ridgely, the Honorable
Clarence Taylor, the Honorable Richard R. Cooch, F. Alton Tybout, Esq. and
Kevin J. O'Connell, Esq. |
SUPERIOR COURT
FIRST FACTS
Superior Court's heritage can be traced
back more than 339 years to
December 6, 1669.
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The red sash worn by the High Courts
in the 17th century is worn today by the judges on ceremonial
occasions.
——
A court designated as a Superior Court
first appeared in the Constitution of 1831.
——
Bailiffs once carried tipstaffs.
One side of the pointed tip was white, to represent
the presumption of innocence. The other side was red
to represent a finding of guilt. Upon conviction, the tipstaff
was turned so that the red side faced forward in the
courtroom and while the defendant was being escorted to
and from the courtroom.
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Jurisdiction over capital cases
was vested in the Court of Oyer and Terminer until
1951 when it was transferred to the Superior Court.
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In April 2008, Superior Court rated
#1 overall for the seventh consecutive year in the State
Liability Systems Study of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce/Harris
Poll.
View
Reports.
——
On October 6, 2003, Superior Court
was the first state court in the nation to require statewide
electronic filing
of certain categories of civil cases.
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On July 28, 2000, Superior Court was
the first state court to adopt a rule allowing briefs and
appendices to be filed on
CD-ROM.
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In 1999, Superior Court began to use
its Wilmington, Delaware eCourtroom,
purported to be the nation's first actively used eCourtroom.
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In 1999, Superior Court began to use
its Automated Sentencing
Order Program. The application issues sentence orders
almost simultaneously with judge's pronouncement.
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Begun in 1994, Superior Court had
the first statewide Drug Court
in the nation.
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In 1991, Superior Court created CLAD,
the first electronic docketing & filing system for civil
cases in the U.S.
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