Hawaii Disclosure of Judicial Nominees' Names, Amendment 1 (2014)

Amendment 1 Type Constitutional amendment Origin Hawaii Legislature Topic State judiciary Status Approved a

2014 measures November 4 Amendment 1 a Amendment 2 a Amendment 3 d Amendment 4 d Amendment 5 a Polls Endorsements Expenditures Local measures

The Hawaii Disclosure of Judicial Nominees' Names, Amendment 1 was on the November 4, 2014 ballot in Hawaii as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was approved. The measure was designed to require the judicial selection commission to disclose to the public the list of judicial nominees for each vacancy when the list is presented to the governor or chief justice.

The amendment was introduced into the Hawaii Legislature as House Bill 420, and was approved unanimously.

Supporters argued that the amendment would increase the public’s confidence in the judicial selection process, while opponents believed the measure would make good potential judges nervous about the selection process.

In Hawaii, an amendment must win not just a majority of all votes cast on that particular proposal, but a majority of the vote of everyone voting in that election. This is known as a double majority.

Election results

Hawaii Amendment 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		302,953	81.98%
No		41,308	11.18%

Due to Hawaii's double majority requirements, the amount of total votes in the overall election are used to calculate the percent of "yes" and "no" votes. This may result in the percents for the "yes" and "no" votes adding up to less than 100 percent.

Election results via: Hawaii Secretary of State

Text of measure

Ballot title

The text appeared on the ballot as follows:

“

Shall the judicial selection commission, when presenting a list of nominees to the governor or the chief justice to fill a vacancy in the office of the chief justice, supreme court, intermediate appellate court, circuit courts or district courts, be required, at the same time, to disclose that list to the public?

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article VI, Hawaii Constitution

The measure amended the first subsection of Section 3 of Article VI of the Hawaii Constitution:

Appointment of Justices and Judges

Section 3. The governor, with the consent of the senate, shall fill a vacancy in the office of the chief justice, supreme court, intermediate appellate court and circuit courts, by appointing a person from a list of not less than four, and not more than six, nominees for the vacancy, presented to the governor by the judicial selection commission.

If the governor fails to make any appointment within thirty days of presentation, or within ten days of the senate's rejection of any previous appointment, the appointment shall be made by the judicial selection commission from the list with the consent of the senate. If the senate fails to reject any appointment within thirty days thereof, it shall be deemed to have given its consent to such appointment. If the senate shall reject any appointment, the governor shall make another appointment from the list within ten days thereof. The same appointment and consent procedure shall be followed until a valid appointment has been made, or failing this, the commission shall make the appointment from the list, without senate consent.

The chief justice, with the consent of the senate, shall fill a vacancy in the district courts by appointing a person from a list of not less than six nominees for the vacancy presented by the judicial selection commission. If the chief justice fails to make the appointment within thirty days of presentation, or within ten days of the senate's rejection of any previous appointment, the appointment shall be made by the judicial selection commission from the list with the consent of the senate. The senate shall hold a public hearing and vote on each appointment within thirty days of any appointment. If the senate fails to do so, the nomination shall be returned to the commission and the commission shall make the appointment from the list without senate consent. The chief justice shall appoint per diem district court judges as provided by law.

The judicial selection commission shall disclose to the public the list of nominees for each vacancy concurrently with the presentation of each list to the governor or the chief justice, as applicable.

Support

Supporters

Officials

The amendment was unanimously approved in the Hawaii State Legislature.

Senate

The following state senators voted to place the measure on the ballot:

Note: A yes vote on the measure merely referred the question to voters and did not necessarily mean these legislators approved of the stipulations laid out in Amendment 1.

• Gilbert Kahele (D-1)
• Russell Ruderman (D-2)
• Joshua Green (D-3)
• Malama Solomon (D-4)
• Gilbert Keith-Agaran (D-5)
• Rosalyn Baker (D-6)
• Jamie Kalani English (D-7)
• Samuel Slom (R-9)
• Les Ihara, Jr. (D-10)
• Brian Taniguchi (D-11)
• Brickwood Galuteria (D-12)
• Susan Chun-Oakland (D-13)
• Donna Mercado Kim (D-14)
• Glenn Wakai (D-15)
• Clarence Nishihara (D-17)
• Michelle Kidani (D-18)
• Will Espero (D-19)
• Mike Gabbard (D-20)
• Maile Shimabukuro (D-21)
• Donovan Dela Cruz (D-22)
• Jill Tokuda (D-24)
• Laura Thielen (D-25)

House

The following state representatives voted to place the measure on the ballot:

Note: A yes vote on the measure merely referred the question to voters and did not necessarily mean these legislators approved of the stipulations laid out in Amendment 1.

• Mark Nakashima (D-1)
• Cliff Tsuji (D-2)
• Richard Onishi (D-3)
• Faye Hanohano (D-4)
• Richard Creagan (D-5)
• Nicole Lowen (D-6)
• Cindy Evans (D-7)
• Joe Souki (D-8)
• Justin Woodson (D-9)
• Angus McKelvey (D-10)
• Kaniela Ing (D-11)
• Kyle Yamashita (D-12)
• Diana Mele Carroll (D-13)
• Derek Kawakami (D-14)
• James Tokioka (D-15)
• Daynette Morikawa (D-16)
• Gene Ward (R-17)
• Mark Hashem (D-18)
• Bert Kobayashi (D-19)
• Scott Nishimoto (D-21)
• Tom Brower (D-22)
• Isaac Choy (D-23)
• Della Au Belatti (D-24)
• Sylvia Luke (D-25)
• Scott Saiki (D-26)
• Takashi Ohno (D-27)
• John Mizuno (D-28)
• Karl Rhoads (D-29)
• Romy Cachola (D-30)
• Aaron Johanson (R-31)
• Linda Ichiyama (D-32)
• K. Mark Takai (D-33)
• Gregg Takayama (D-34)
• Roy Takumi (D-35)
• Beth Fukumoto (R-36)
• Ryan Yamane (D-37)
• Henry Aquino (D-38)
• Ty Cullen (D-39)
• Bob McDermott (R-40)
• Rida Cabanilla Arakawa (D-41)
• Karen Leinani Awana (D-43)
• Jo Jordan (D-44)
• Lauren Kealohilani Matsumoto (R-45)
• Marcus Oshiro (D-46)
• Richard Fale (R-47)
• Jessica Wooley (D-48)
• Ken Ito (D-49)
• Cynthia Thielen (R-50)
• Chris Lee (D-51)

Organizations

• Americans for Democratic Action - Hawaii
• League of Women Voters of Hawaii
• Hawaii Family Advocates

Arguments

• Jean Aoki of the League of Women Voters of Hawaii stated, “Increased sunshine in the process of selecting judges would increase public confidence in the Judiciary.”

Opposition

Opponents

• Attorney General David M. Louie (D)

Arguments

• Attorney General David M. Louie (D) issued a statement in opposition to HB 420. His statement said, "The Attorney General believes that confidentiality is critical to getting attorneys who would make good judges to apply to fill judicial vacancies, and believes that passage of this bill could undermine the quality of our Judiciary."

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Hawaii Constitution

HB 420 was introduced into the Hawaii Legislature on January 18, 2013. The bill was approved through a two-thirds vote in both legislative chambers. HB 420 was approved in the Hawaii House of Representatives on February 27, 2014. The amendment was approved in the Hawaii Senate on March 21, 2014.

House vote

February 27, 2014 House vote

Hawaii HB 420 House Vote
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		49	100.00%
No		0	0.00%

Senate vote

March 21, 2014 Senate vote

Hawaii HB 420 Senate Vote
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		22	100.00%
No		0	0.00%

See also

Suggest a link

• 2014 ballot measures
• Hawaii 2014 ballot measures
• Hawaii Legislature