DOVER, Del.- A justice who served 16 years on Delaware's Supreme Court has died.
Justice Henry Ridgely Horsey died Thursday night at the age of 91, according to the Delaware Supreme Court.
Horsey served on the court from 1978-1994. Before he was appointed to the state's highest court, Horsey practiced law in Wilmington and then Dover.
“It was an honor for me to serve with Justice Horsey, who warmly welcomed me to the Delaware Supreme Court,” said Justice Randy J. Holland speaking on behalf of the Delaware Supreme Court.
“Justice Horsey continued a family tradition of judicial and public service that spans 250 years. Many of his opinions are landmark decisions on a wide variety of legal principles.”
Before entering the legal profession, Justice Horsey served in the U.S. Army for from 1943 to 1946 during World War II.Upon his discharge in 1946 as a sergeant, he resumed his education at Harvard College and Harvard Law School, graduating in 1952.
As a justice he wrote more than 200 published opinions, many of which became landmark decisions. One of the most notable is his opinion in Riley v. State, which became the format for the seminal holding by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark 1986 case Batson v. United States, which prohibits attorneys from removing prospective jurors during jury selection in criminal proceedings based on race.
