Ezra named chief
By Debra Barayuga
District Court judge
Star-BulletinDavid Ezra becomes chief judge of the U. S. District Court effective today.
He replaces Judge Alan C. Kay, who served as chief judge for the past seven years. Chief judges serve seven-year terms. Ezra will officially assume his new duties following a 3 p.m. ceremony Friday.
Ezra was appointed to the U.S. District Court in 1988, then the youngest federal judge in Hawaii's history.
Since 1978, he has been an adjunct law professor at the University of Hawaii law school. He taught courses in legal remedies and federal courts.
He is also on the board of directors and Executive Committee of the U.S. Federal Judges Association, is current vice president of the 9th Circuit District Judges Association, a member of the Judicial Council of the 9th Circuit and a member of the Executive Committee of the 9th Circuit Judicial Conference.
He also is a trustee for St. Louis High School.
U.S. Attorney Steve Alm praised and thanked Judge Kay for his service and leadership in the past seven years, calling him a "gentleman."
"I think he's discharged his duties as administrative judge very well."
Under Kay's leadership, the federal court system grew, another district judge was added and the U.S. attorneys office and its caseload increased in size, Alm said. "That alone creates a number of challenges for an administrative judge to work with."
One of the recent high profile cases Kay handled was the first federal violation of campaign spending law tried in the state. He sentenced former state House speaker Danny Kihano to two years in federal prison for illegally spending $27,000 in campaign funds and lying to cover it up.
