Justice Vaughn to retire from Delaware Supreme Court

Delaware Supreme Court Justice James T. Vaughn, Jr. has announced he will retire in 2023 after 25 years of service on the bench.

In a letter to Gov. John Carney, Vaughn said he will step down effective May 1, 2023.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve since 1998 as a Superior Court judge and Supreme Court Justice. I will always appreciate the memories of working with my colleagues on the bench and with court staff in our efforts to maintain the rule of law in this state. I leave with a sense of satisfaction that I have done my best to discharge the duties of the judicial offices I have held,” he wrote.

Vaughn, 73, first joined the bench in 1998 as the resident judge for Kent County Superior Court. He was later elevated to the position of president judge of Superior Court in 2004. Gov. Jack Markell then appointed him to the Supreme Court in October 2014.

“Like his father, Justice Vaughn has served our state and its citizens with great distinction,” said Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr. “As former Chief Justice Veasey has remarked, Justice Vaughn has a straight-forward/no-nonsense approach to the Rule of Law. The Court will miss his hard work, steady hand and unflappable nature.”

Prior to joining the bench, Vaughn spent 22 years as an attorney in private practice in civil and criminal law, first at Vaughn & Vaughn, in 1976, then at Vaughn and Nicholas before joining the firm of Schmittinger and Rodriguez in 1988.

Vaughn served as a member of the Clayton Town Council from 1979 – 1989, including three years as president. He was then elected to the Smyrna School Board, serving from 1989 – 1994, including three years as that board’s president.

A U.S. Army veteran and Delaware native, he received his B.A. from Duke University, graduating magna cum laude in 1971 and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976. He graduated from J.B. Moore High School in Smyrna in 1967.

Vaughn is a member of the Kent County Bar Association, Terry-Carey American Inn of Court (President 2011-2013) and The Randy J. Holland Workers' Compensation American Inn of Court. He served as a judicial member of the Joint Bar/Bench Committee on Civility and as a member of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.