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Cite as:  592 U. S. ____ (2020) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 
corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 19–309 
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JOHN C. CARNEY, GOVERNOR OF DELAWARE, 
PETITIONER v. JAMES R. ADAMS 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT 
OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT 

[December 10, 2020]

 JUSTICE BREYER delivered the opinion of the Court. 
This  case  concerns  a  Delaware  constitutional  provision
that requires that appointments to Delaware’s major courts
reflect a partisan balance.  Delaware’s Constitution states 
that no more than a bare majority of members of any of its
five major courts may belong to any one political party.  Art. 
IV, §3.  It also requires, with respect to three of those courts, 
that the remaining members belong to “the other major po-
litical party.”  Ibid. 

The plaintiff, a Delaware lawyer, brought this lawsuit in
federal court.  He claimed that Delaware’s party-member-
ship requirements for its judiciary violate the Federal Con-
stitution.  We  agreed  to  consider  the  constitutional  ques-
tion,  but  only  if  the  plaintiff  has  standing  to  raise  that 
question.  We now hold that he does not. 

I 
The  Delaware  Constitution  contains  a  political  balance
requirement  applicable  to  membership  on  all  five  of  its
courts: the Supreme Court, the Chancery Court, the Supe-
rior  Court,  the  Family  Court,  and  the  Court  of  Common