[ OUR OPINION ]
GOVERNOR Lingle's nomination of James Duffy to a 10-year term on the state Supreme Court was a remarkable act of bipartisanship that has been sorely missing from judicial selection at the federal level. Lingle transcended party preference in choosing a highly respected attorney who had been nominated by former President Clinton to a seat on the federal appellate bench and then trashed by Senate Republicans and President Bush. Duffy excellent
choice for high court
THE ISSUE Governor Lingle has appointed prominent Honolulu attorney James Duffy to an opening on the state Supreme Court.
A former president of the Hawaii Bar Association, Duffy was praised by lawyers of both parties when nominated by Clinton in 1999 to fill a vacancy on the 28-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The nomination languished for more than a year and a half in the GOP-controlled Senate, finally dying with the end of the Clinton administration.
The inaction angered Senator Inouye, who demanded an "official letter" from the Judiciary Committee to explain the rejection. Instead, Bush nominated Richard R. Clifton, also a praiseworthy attorney, to fill the appellate vacancy, which Inouye had assured through legislation would go to a Hawaii lawyer. Bush then nominated Frederick "Fritz" Rohlfing to a District Court opening, rejecting suggestions that he soften the partisan snub by naming Duffy to that spot.
Both Duffy and Clifton had been praised by Randall Roth, a Republican and also a former Hawaii Bar Association president, as "equally terrific" potential judges. Roth is now senior adviser to Governor Lingle, so it is not surprising that Clifton was chosen for the opening on the state's highest court.
Although Duffy was a law partner of the late Wallace Fujiyama, a longtime power broker in the Democratic Party, he is not regarded as highly partisan. Inouye said he was unaware of Duffy's party affiliation when he suggested that Clinton nominate him to the 9th Circuit.
Duffy is known as an effective mediator, and that skill may be useful on a court that Lingle says has been described to her as "dysfunctional," riven with personal discord as it copes with a large backlog of cases. The governor has followed through nicely on her promise earlier this month to nominate someone who is "able to engage in a collegial discourse necessary to appellate adjudication."
