Mary Pat Thynge

Mary Pat Thynge was a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. She first joined the court on June 17, 1992 and began her most recent eight-year term on June 17, 2016.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Thynge retired from the court on March 31, 2023.^[2]

Education

Thynge received an undergraduate degree from Miami University and a J.D. from Ohio Northern University.^[4]

Career

1989-1992: Attorney, White & Williams
1976-1989: Attorney, Biggs & Battaglia^[2]

Noteworthy cases

Forced political balance in Delaware courts violates U.S. Constitution

On December 6, 2017, Thynge ruled that a provision in Delaware's constitution requiring that appellate and general jurisdiction trial courts be balanced politically violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In her ruling, Thynge wrote, "Political affiliation is not important to the effective performance of a Delaware judge's duties. A Delaware judge may not participate in political activities, hold any office in a political organization, or allow political affiliation to influence his judgment on the bench." Thynge ruled that the practice of limiting appointees to a specific party restricted government employment based on political affiliation, and thus violated the constitution.^[5] You can read the full ruling on the case here.

The ruling was made in a suit filed by James Adams against Gov. John Carney (D). Adams, who was a Democrat before registering as unaffiliated, told the court he had wanted to apply for judgeships in the past but did not because his party affiliation would have automatically disqualified him.^[5]

On February 5, 2019, a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit upheld Thynge's decision.^[6] On April 10, 2019, a second three-judge panel issued a new opinion agreeing with the February opinion and adding a section addressing the governor's arguments.^[7]