Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Seitz accepts Presidential Citizens Medal on behalf of his father

On Thursday, January 2, 2025, Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr. of Delaware, along with other Seitz family members, attended a ceremony at the White House to accept the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Joseph R. Biden on behalf of his late father, Chancellor Collins J. Seitz, Sr.

Collins J. Seitz, Sr. served as a Vice Chancellor on the Delaware Court of Chancery from 1946 until 1951, when he was elevated to the position of Chancellor, a position which he held until being named to the U.S. 3^rd Circuit Court of Appeals in 1966. He later went on to serve as the Chief Judge of the appeals court from 1971 until 1984. He took senior status in 1989 and held that position until his passing in 1998.

According to a statement from the White House:

“As a state judge in Delaware, Judge Seitz became the first judge in America to integrate a white public school, dismantling the doctrine of “separate but equal” with exacting detail and reverence for the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of our Constitution. His brave ruling tore down walls of separation to help us see each other as fellow Americans.”

Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr, said in a statement:

“The Seitz family thanks the President of the United States for awarding our father posthumously one of the government’s highest civilian honors. As a state court judge on Delaware’s Court of Chancery in the 1950s, he had the remarkable courage to declare that segregation in public school education – separate but equal – should be unconstitutional. The United States Supreme Court followed his lead and agreed with his reasoning, striking down the separate but equal doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education. We are overjoyed that President Biden saw fit to honor his legacy as a fiercely independent and principled judge unafraid to make difficult decisions that cut against popular opinion.”