OPINION
Current Chancery Court Disruption Began With Andre Bouchard’s Initial Register of Wills Office Appointment
Dear Friends,
The new Haunted House of Chancery ad in the Delaware News Journal, showing injustice by Kathaleen McCormick, Leo Strine and John Carney, which I wrote about in my last column, made me realize that some of you may not know the reason why I started writing about the Chancery Court in the first place.
It all had to do with how the Register of Wills and Cindy Green, who was elected by the people, was treated by the Chancellor, making the operation partisan, rather than efficient. Instead of taking the advice of the outstanding, elected official Green, who recommended the most qualified operative in the Register of Wills Office, Patty Bodenweiser, to become the Deputy Register of Wills — Chancellor Bouchard ignored those excellent recommendations and unjustly, for obvious political reasons in my opinion — appointed one unqualified person after another. Indeed, it was within his purview, but was it ethical?? One appointee hardly showed up, another had zero computer knowledge and was paid more than what the job dictated. When I criticized him publicly, he wrote me a letter filled with innumerable inaccuracies. When does an active judge write a pundit a letter? Unusual? Suspicious?
Folks, that letter really tweaked my curiosity and I started watching Bouchard’s entire operation. Observing, in my view, unprecedented conflicts of interest and suspicious activity in the TransPerfect Chancery Court case, I wrote about those perceived inequities, unprecedented actions, and suspicious activities. Bouchard eventually resigned from Delaware’s Chancery Court halfway through his term. Could that have been due to certain possible inequities he perpetrated in his omnipotent position that I wrote about? We will likely really never know?
I have continued to write about the Chancery Court. I still see conflicts of interest abound. These all-powerful Judges can be arbitrary and capricious and legally get away with it. The legislature and the Governor need to implement changes.
Send your feedback on this, folks. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated. And please see my previous story below from earlier this year where I wrote about the controversial election for the Sussex County Register of Wills office. It was one of my most popular columns this year and created some interesting comments, which is why I wrote it.
Respectfully Yours,
JUDSON Bennett–Coastal Network
Article from earlier this year:
Word has it Sussex County Register of Wills office is in Chaos!
May 1, 2023
Opinion
Dear Friends,
I originally wrote about the Sussex County “Register of Wills Office” several years ago when Andre Bouchard played political games in picking a Chief Deputy, hiring one incompetent Democrat, after another. I also gave tremendous credit to Cindy Green in those days who turned that office around, updating everything to modern times, computerizing the operation.
I apparently can’t say the same thing about the current Sussex Register of Wills, Greg Fuller—a lifelong Democrat who switched parties to get elected. In an absurd “personal pissing match” Fuller was able to get himself elected in a divided Republican party that used, in my view, a personal vendetta to elect someone who was not the most qualified? Perhaps Fuller should be nicknamed “Full of It”?
The first thing this guy did was fire the most competent, educated, and organized worker in the office out of personal spite! He and the County are lucky they were not sued, as evidenced by the fact when the Council realized the huge mistake, they immediately found her another county position with equal compensation.
Since that time, my reliable information has told me the office of the Register of Wills is in absolute chaos and nobody knows what they are doing. It is my understanding there is not a Chief Deputy and the office is basically dysfunctional? Could all this be because the wrong person was elected through a misguided Republican primary. Did the voters make a huge mistake?
If my information is accurate, apparently the Sussex County Council and the County Administration are not doing anything about it, much to the detriment of the people of Sussex County?
Yikes, so be it in this small world of petty politics creating local inefficiency which should not happen?
Anyone who wants to wade in on this or provide some more information, please respond. As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
JUDSON Bennett-Coastal Network