The Hawai‘i Judicial Selection Commission has submitted the names of six nominees for the judicial vacancy in the Intermediate Court of Appeals, State of Hawai‘i. The position has been vacant since Associate Judge Lisa M. Ginoza was elevated to the position of Chief Judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals in April 2018.
The commission has investigated the backgrounds and qualifications of the applicants and has submitted the list of nominees to Gov. David Ige.
David M. Forman, 52, is currently the director of the Environmental Law Program at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Forman attended UH Mānoa and Harvard College before receiving his Juris Doctor at the William S. Richardson School of Law at UH Mānoa. While at Harvard College, Forman was a National Merit Scholar and a member of the Ivy League varsity football championship team of 1987.
Keith K. Hiraoka, 59, is a Judge with the First Circuit Court, State of Hawai‘i. He is a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa, and the Boalt Hall School of Law, Berkeley, California. Judge Hiraoka has also been an attorney in practice for 33 years, a USSF soccer referee and a musician. He is a member of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court Permanent Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure and Circuit Court Civil Rules. He is also a member of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court Civil Justice Improvements Task Force.
Geoffrey K. S. Komeya, 52, is an attorney/shareholder at Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina & Fairbanks, Attorneys at Law. He is a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, where he earned a B.A. and M.A in English. Komeya earned his Juris Doctor at the William S. Richardson School of Law, where he also was an adjunct professor from 2004-2005.
Karen T. Nakasone, 48, is currently a Judge in the First Circuit Court. She attended the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the University of Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan and Bryn Mawr College where she earned a B.A. in Political Science. Judge Nakasone earned her J.D. at the Boston University School of Law. She was a congressional intern for U.S. Rep. Patsy Pink, and the recipient of the 1989 Okinawan Prefectural Government Scholarship.
John M. Tonaki, 58, is a public defender with the State of Hawai‘i. He earned a B.A. at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa before attending Hastings College of Law at the University of California where he earned his Juris Doctor. Tonaki was the director of the Mānoa Youth Baseball League from 2004-2009.
Clyde J. Wadsworth, 60, is the solicitor general of the State of Hawai‘i, Department of the Attorney General. He earned a B.A. in politics at Princeton University and his Juris Doctor at the UCLA School of Law. Wadsworth served as president of the Hawai‘i LGBT Legal Association, and was pro bono counsel for the ACLU of Hawai‘i.
Gov. Ige has until Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 to make his selection.
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