On July 13, the U.S. Supreme Court revealed that it will hear Carney v Adams, 19-309, on Monday, October 5. This is the case over the Delaware law that says registered independents, and registered members of parties that are below 5% of the state total, can never be eligible to be appointed to most judicial posts, including the Delaware Supreme Court.

The Third Circuit and the U.S. District Court had both agreed that the law violates the U.S. Constitution. The state appealed, and the U.S. Supreme Court accepted the case, and was set to hear it argued on March 25. But then the health crisis began, and the Court postponed some of the oral arguments until October 2020, including this one.

This will be the first time the U.S. Supreme Court will have said something about independent voters and candidates, since 2005, when it heard an Oklahoma Libertarian case over whether the party had the right to insist on an open primary for itself. In that case, Beaver v Clingman, the party was told that it could not do that. The opinion was by Justice Clarence Thomas. But five justices wrote separately to say sympathetic things about the rights of minor party and independent voters.