Senate confirms Jurden, du Pont heir judge

Members of the Delaware state Senate voted 19-2 on Tuesday to confirm Gov. Jack Markell's nomination of Judge Jan Jurden to lead the Delaware Superior Court as president judge.

Sen. Harris McDowell, a Wilmington Democrat, and Sen. Colin Bonini, a Dover Republican, cast the dissenting votes. McDowell criticized Jurden's sentencing of du Pont heir Robert Richards IV, who avoided jail time in the rape of his 3-year-old daughter.

Jurden faced a firestorm of criticism earlier this year over her 2008 sentencing of Richards, who pleaded guilty to the fourth-degree rape and was sentenced to eight years in prison suspended for Level II probation.

Jurden, who has served on the Superior Court bench since 2001, said she was "honored" by the Senate's vote on Tuesday.

"I know and love this court, my colleagues and this dedicated court staff," Jurden said during a Senate Executive committee hearing.

Jurden will be paid $191,360 in her job as president judge of the Superior Court.

The full Senate followed through on expectations to confirm Jurden despite her controversial position as the judge at the center of the Richards case.

McDowell said the sentencing raised questions about whether justice is handed out equally in Delaware among those with power and those without power. He referenced protests across the country in the wake of the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

"The riots are about what appears to be an inequitable application of justice," McDowell said in a Senate floor speech.

"It all comes down to the question, is the promise of our Democracy still adhered, is it not broken? That promise is government will be equal to everyone. That government will see that justice is meted out equally to the powerful and to the meek. That's come into question in some places."

Bonini, who also voted no, made no public remarks about his vote.

The Richards case also hung over the Senate executive committee hearing on Tuesday, but Jurden said she was prohibited from speaking about the case under judicial ethics rules. Because Richards is still on probation, his case could come back before Superior Court.

Senate President Pro Tem Patricia Blevins, D-Elsmere, encouraged members of the executive committee to avoid asking Jurden questions about the case.

"I would like to be able to answer every question the senators have," Jurden said. "I would very much like to do that. I am not able to violate the judges' oath. While I appreciate there are questions, I am simply not able to do that."

Senators complied with Blevins' request, not asking Jurden direct questions about her handling of the Richards case.

Senate Majority Leader David McBride, D-Hawk's Nest, said judging Jurden on her actions in one case would be unfair. He also praised the Judicial Nominating Commission, the panel that recommends judge candidates to the governor.

"I have no reason to second guess the unqualified recommendation it has made to the governor and to the Senate regarding your qualification," McBride said, calling Jurden a "champion" of the rule of law. "To point to the outcome in one case (as evidence) that a judge is less than qualified to hold higher office would constitute a grave injustice to both the judge and our judicial system.

Sen. Greg Lavelle, a Sharpley Republican, also acknowledged the case and referenced the age of the victim, saying "witnesses of that age are difficult witnesses to put on the stand."

During her time on the Superior Court, Jurden has overseen the Superior Court's Mental Health Court since its inception in 2008 and oversaw the Conflict Attorney Program from 2006 through 2008. She also has presided over the Veterans' Treatment Court in New Castle County.

Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.