Page 8 - Delaware Lawyer - Summer 2023

FEATURE
Court
The Hon. Jan R. Jurden1 Illustrations by Jenifer Jurden2
The Superior
A look back, the present day, and what’s next
In the fall of 1999, the Superior Court held a special session in Dover. The purpose of that special session: to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Courts on the Green. President Judge Henry du Pont Ridgely presided. The list of distinguished speakers included Chief Justice E. Norman Veasey, Justice Maurice Hartnett, and Senator Nancy Cook. In honor of the occasion, Senator Cook presented a Senate Resolution, noting that “on September 16, 1669, the courts of Kent County first met in their new courthouses on the Court House Square, now the Dover Green . . . .”3
6 DELAWARE LAWYER SUMMER 2023
The Superior Court’s heritage can be traced back to December 1669, when John Binckson and two other defendants were tried for treason after leading an insurrection
against colonists loyal to England in favor of the King of Sweden.4 The law courts, which represent the juris- diction of the Superior Court today, date back to 1831.5 They included