American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware v. The Town of Fenwick Island

── American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware v. The Town of Fenwick Island ── Court: Superior Court of Delaware Date: May 26, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES : UNION OF DELAWARE, : : Plaintiff, : C.A. No. S25C-12-003 CAK : v. : : THE TOWN OF FENWICK ISLAND, : : Defendant. : : Submitted: May 21, 2026 Decided: May 26, 2026 UPON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS Granted MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Andrew Bernstein, Esquire, American Civil Liberties Union, 100 W. 10th Street #706, Wilmington, DE 19801; Attorney for Plaintiff. Luke W. Mette, Esquire, Joseph Grubb, Esquire, Mark A. Denney, Esquire, Brockstedt Mandalas Federico, 1413 Savannah Road, Suite 1, Lewes, DE 19958; Attorneys for Defendant. KARSNITZ, R.J.  INTRODUCTION What is a “person?” When one cuts to the heart of this case, that is the question. The philosopher Diogo Joao Baptista Gomes of Brachtenbach, Luxembourg has answered the question as follows: The question of what a person is isn’t exclusive to philosophy. Consequently, there are many answers. In a physiological and biological context, a person is a human being with certain essential physiological and biological characteristics. Legally, the answer is broader. According to the law, a person is anyone or anything that can initiate and be subject to legal proceedings. By this conception, any adult, corporation, or institution is a person, but a minor is not a person, a fetus is not a person, and a humanoid robot … is not a person. This highlights that legal personhood is dependent solely on legal recognition. In this sense a legal person is like a political person. A political person is anyone who has citizenship. The humanoid robot … has been granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia, which demonstrates the contingency of political personhood. Moreover, there is no shortage of people who have had their citizenship stripped, whose political personhood is therefore non-existent. In philosophy, a human being is a person if they’re a moral agent, making moral judgements and taking moral actions. Metaphysically, the set of criteria for personhood include rationality or logical reasoning, consciousness, self-consciousness, use of language, ability to initiate action, moral agency, and intelligence. The humanoid robot or a young child may meet sufficient criteria here. A corporation or institution does not. In practice, however, only legal and political personhood are of significance, and these are contingent on recognition by political or legal institutions. However, metaphysical and moral personhood provide an intellectual foundation upon which to discuss legal and 2  political personhood. Therefore, I suggest that a person in its full sense – both theoretically and practically – is a metaphysical and moral being with legal and political recognition. The former is sufficient for theoretical personhood and the latter is sufficient for practical personhood, and both are necessary for full personhood. [emphasis supplied]1 In 2008, the Delaware General Assembly amended the Charter of the Town of Fenwick Island (“Fenwick”), a small coastal community,2 to allow Fenwick to expand its voter registration rolls to allow individuals to cast votes on behalf of trusts, limited liability companies, partnerships, and corporations that own property in Fenwick. Today, the overwhelming majority of legal entity property owners in Fenwick registered to vote, and on whose behalf