3 Delawareans among 20 bestowed Presidential Citizens Medal by Joe Biden
President Joe Biden named 20 recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal, including three people from Delaware.
The medal is awarded to U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens, according to a White House statement. It is the second-highest civilian award in the nation and is second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
"President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others," according to a White House statement. "The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice."
The medal was awarded posthumously to two Delawareans: civil rights advocate and attorney Louis L. Redding and former Delaware Judge Collins J. Seitz Sr.
As chancellor, Seitz presided over two cases brought by Redding against the state of Delaware challenging segregation — Belton v. Gebhart and Bulah v. Gebhart – and found in favor of the plaintiffs. Those cases later became part of the Brown v. Board of Education litigation that overturned segregation nationally – and they were the only two cases where the plaintiffs prevailed in the lower courts.
Members of Seitz and Redding's families were there to receive the awards, including Delaware Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr.
"The Seitz family thanks the President of the United States for awarding our father posthumously one of the government's highest civilian honors," Chief Justice Seitz said in a statement. "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."
Delaware's congressional delegation submitted a joint letter to Biden last year in support of a push by local advocates to posthumously award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to these two men.
Other recipients bestowed the Presidential Citizens Medal on Thursday, according to Paste BN, include former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, both of whom served on the House Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Cheney, who represented Wyoming's at-large congressional district for three terms, was one of President-elect Donald Trump's fiercest critics in Congress. She is among lawmakers who led the investigation whom Trump has said should be jailed. Her name has been frequently floated as a candidate for a preemptive pardon by Biden.
Thompson, who represents Mississippi's 2nd District, was chair of the committee on Jan. 6, and served "at the forefront of defending the rule of law with unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment to truth," a White House statement said.
Delaware recipients of the Presidential Citizens Award
Redding was the first Black lawyer in Delaware and went on to argue multiple major cases in the First State in the years before the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the "separate but equal" doctrine.
"A towering figure and a generous mentor, he opened doors of equity and opportunity for all Americans," according to a White House statement.
Seitz served as a vice chancellor on Chancery Court from 1946 until 1951 when he was elevated to chancellor – a post he held from 1951 to 1966 when he then was nominated as a judge on the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. He later became chief judge of that court from 1971 to 1984 and took senior status with that court in 1989. He held that position until his death in 1998.
"His brave ruling tore down walls of separation to help us see each other as fellow Americans," the White House said.
Ted Kaufman, a longtime top adviser to Biden. Kaufman was also Biden's chief of staff for two decades in the U.S. Senate. After Biden was elected vice president, then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner in 2008 appointed Kaufman to serve out the remainder of Biden's Senate term.
"For decades, including as a United States Senator from Delaware, Ted Kaufman has served the Nation with honesty and integrity," according to a White House statement. "A master of the Senate who championed everyday Americans and public servants, he’s been at the forefront of consequential debates about the courts, the financial system, and more."
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