Gov. Linda Lingle this morning made public the list of six potential nominees to the vacant state Supreme Court seat. The list was forwarded to her by the judicial selection commission. Lingle has until mid-April to make her selection, which must be confirmed by the state Senate. Lingle names 6 nominated
for vacant seat on high courtThe governor says she released
the list to maintain openness
in the state governmentBy Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com
The list includes four judges now sitting on the Circuit Court and two prominent attorneys, James Duffy and Lowell Chun-Hoon. The judges are Eden E. Hifo, Sabrina McKenna, Richard Perkins and Richard Pollack.
A release from Lingle's office this morning said she was making the list available "in a continuing effort to maintain openness in her administration."
The release noted: "Previous governors have sometimes chosen not to make such lists public, or have done so only after making a selection."
Chun-Hoon, 53, is a labor lawyer with the firm of King Nakamura and Chun-Hoon.
Duffy, 60, who had been nominated for the U.S. District Court, is an attorney with Fujiyama Duffy and Fujiyama.
Hifo, 56, formerly known as Bambi Weil, removed former Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsay from the estate.
McKenna, 45, is a former Family Court judge and approved the sale of ceded lands for public housing projects.
Perkins, 52, is a criminal court judge and had been on a previous list of possible state Supreme Court nominees.
Pollack, 52, is the former state public defender.
The nominee will take the place of retiring associate supreme court justice Mario Ramil.
Lingle also released the list of possible candidates to fill a vacancy in Circuit Court in Honolulu. The nominees are John Gillmor, Ronette Kawakami, Gerald Kibe, Rhonda Nishimura, Peter Stone and Michael Tanigawa.
The Circuit Court position will be open when Judge Wilfred Watanabe retires later this year.
Office of the Governor
Hawaii State Judiciary
