Seabright is renominated
for isle federal judge post

President Bush plans to renominate Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Michael Seabright for a federal judgeship in Hawaii.

J. Michael Seabright: He has prosecuted a number of high-profile white-collar cases in Hawaii

The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Seabright's nomination to the U.S. District Court last month, but no action was taken.

Hawaii Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, both Democrats, spoke highly of Seabright during the hearing.

In his statement, Akaka noted that Hawaii is experiencing a judicial emergency because the federal court is short-staffed.

The seat has been vacant for close to five years since U.S. District Judge Alan Kay went on semiretired status.

Attorney Fritz Rohlfing withdrew his nomination in May after waiting more than two years for confirmation.

Seabright has been with the U.S. Attorney office in Honolulu since 1990 and is the supervisor of the white-collar and organized-crime unit.

He has prosecuted a number of high-profile white-collar crime cases, including those involving former Honolulu City Councilman Andy Mirikitani, former state Sen. Milton Holt, former state House Speaker Daniel Kihano and eight former Honolulu liquor inspectors.

Gov. Linda Lingle submitted Seabright's name along with state Attorney General Mark Bennett and former state chief labor negotiator Ted Hong to President Bush for consideration.

Seabright is among 20 people who are being nominated for a second time because they did not receive votes for or against their nominations for federal judgeships in the last Congress.

The Democrats' ability to stall certain White House picks for the federal bench was one of the most contentious issues of Bush's first term. In the past two years, despite the GOP majority in the Senate, Democrats have used filibusters to prevent final votes from occurring on 10 of 34 of Bush's nominees to federal appeals courts.