Members of the House Native Hawaiian Caucus sent a letter to David Ige today expressing their concern regarding his recent selection to fill a vacancy on the Hawaiʻi Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA). The caucus writes that Ige’s choices during his term in office have not provided equitable racial and gender representation to judges for our highest courts and the members ask that he withdraw his most recent nominee from consideration.

The letter is signed Representative Daniel Holt, who serves as the Chair of the House Native Hawaiian Caucus, along with 12 of his fellow caucus members and states:

“We share concerns regarding equitable racial and gender representation in our judiciary. Throughout your term as Governor, though the Hawaiʻi State Bar Association has consistently delivered qualified candidates from the pool of prospective judicial applicants, you have not made equitable representation in our judiciary a priority.”

“We acknowledge that at present, there are no native Hawaiian, Filipino, Pacific Islander, or African American judges at the Supreme Court or the ICA. It has been over 20 years since a native Hawaiian has been appointed to serve on the Hawai`i Supreme Court and nearly 30 years since a native Hawaiian has been appointed to serve on the ICA.”

On July 8 Ige announced the appointment of Daniel Gluck to the Intermediate Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Associate Judge Derrick H.M. Chan last October. The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

The Hawaiʻi State Senate will convene a special session for the purpose of reviewing the judicial appointments of Dan Gluck to the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) and Lesley Maloian to the District Family Court of the First Circuit.

The process will begin with a Senate Judicial Committee hearing, chaired by Senator Karl Rhoads on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.

View the hearing notice Here

Members of the public who wish to testify via video conference should use the Legislature’s website (www.capitol.hawaii.gov) to submit their written testimony and select “yes” when asked if they will be testifying remotely for the hearing. Written testimony is required to participate via video conference and must be submitted at least 24 hours before the hearing. Additional information and details are on the capitol website.

The Senate will convene in a floor session on Wednesday, July 28 at 10:00 a.m. This will be followed by a separate decision-making meeting of the Judiciary Committee at 10:30 a.m. Final Senate votes on the appointments are expected on Thursday, July 29 at 11:00 a.m.

The special session will only address the two pending judicial appointments.