HONOLULU — Katherine Leonard’s nomination as chief justice of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court was lauded by a stream of supporters on Tuesday but derided by a few who contended she lacks the administrative experience to lead the state’s judicial system.
HONOLULU — Katherine Leonard’s nomination as chief justice of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court was lauded by a stream of supporters on Tuesday but derided by a few who contended she lacks the administrative experience to lead the state’s judicial system.
The state Senate Judiciary Committee heard several hours of testimony from Leonard, her allies and foes, but it was unclear in which direction the six-member committee will head on Thursday when it is to vote on whether to recommend her nomination to the full Senate.
Gov. Linda Lingle selected the 50-year-old Intermediate Court of Appeals judge last month. If confirmed by the Senate in a vote that is expected Friday, Leonard will become the first woman to lead the high court, and the first state Supreme Court justice to have graduated from the University of Hawai‘i law school.
If the ratio of praise and criticism offered at Tuesday’s hearing is any measure, Leonard may be in good shape despite an “unqualified” rating that the Hawai‘i State Bar Association issued on her nomination on Monday.
Her supporters described her as a lawyer and judge with a first-rate legal mind who always acts with integrity and is deeply involved in her community.
“She’s been groomed as a leader. She is a leader,” said Robert Klein, a former state Supreme Court justice with whom Leonard clerked.
Representatives of the defense and prosecutorial bar also praised her.
“If I had to categorize her, I would say she’s a moderate,” said John Tonaki, the state public defender. “There are decisions that she rendered both for criminal defendants and against criminal defendants.”
Doug Chen, acting Honolulu prosecutor, called Leonard “neutral and nonpartisan” and “phenomenally thorough.”
Attorney General Mark Bennett, in extolling Leonard’s legal mind, recalled that she “beat me like a drum” in a case where she represented clients against the state.
While stressing that Lingle did not select Leonard because she is a woman, Bennett urged the Senate to keep in mind a resolution it passed earlier this year urging Lingle to appoint more women to the bench.
Leonard, in a 70-minute appearance before the committee, said her stint as editor of the UH law review publication, her management of difficult cases as a private lawyer and as an appellate judge, and her work in legal groups was proof of her abilities.
“I love my work as a judge,” she said. “I have no agenda, no platform…To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever questioned my honesty, my industry or my diligence.”
Only a handful of witnesses testified against Leonard, including prominent Honolulu lawyer Eric Seitz and former state Circuit Court Judge Marie Milks.
Leonard is qualified to be an associate justice on the high court but lacks administrative experience for the chief justice post and “has yet to demonstrate leadership,” Milks added.
But Leonard and her supporters noted that previous chief justices also lacked deep administrative experience before winning confirmation.
Without proof, “the use of such vague criteria has traditionally been used in the construction of the proverbial ’glass ceiling’ to keep qualified female applicants from high positions,” said Tonaki.
Several witnesses urged the committee to ignore the state bar association’s unqualified rating because the group refuses to explain how it reached that conclusion.
Bar association President Hugh Jones testified that the group’s 20-member board of directors met with Leonard at length on Friday and Monday. He also personally had long conversations with her about the concerns of the board, which is equally split between men and women, Jones added.
Further, he said Leonard is free to talk about those issues if asked by the Judiciary Committee members. But when Leonard appeared before the committee a second time late Tuesday afternoon, she was not asked about the concerns.
Asked by Sen. Sam Slom, R-Diamond Head-Hawai‘i Kai, whether she has any reservations about her abilities to lead the judiciary, Leonard replied, “none whatsoever.”
