Karl K. Sakamoto
Karl K. Sakamoto was a judge of the O'ahu First Circuit of Hawaii. He was appointed by Gov. Ben Cayetano in 2000 and approved by the Hawaii Senate unanimously.[1][2] He retired in December 2016.[3]
Education
Sakamoto earned both a B.A. in psychology and a J.D. from the University of Hawaii.[4]
Career
Prior to his appointment, Sakamoto worked as a deputy public defender, an associate in the civil litigation section of a private law firm, and as a senior attorney and deputy executive director for the state Civil Rights Commission.[4]
Awards and associations
Past associations include:
- The National Employment Lawyers Association Hawaii Chapter
- The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
- The Japanese American Citizen's League
- The Honolulu Civic Entrepreneur Initiative[4]
Noteworthy cases
Judge allows same-sex marriage law
On November 14, 2013, Judge Sakamoto refused to block a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Hawaii. Senate Bill 1 was passed by both houses of the state Legislature before being signed into law by Gov. Abercrombie on November 13.
Rep. Bob McDermott, of District 40, immediately pushed for a temporary restraining order against the new law. He pointed to a 1998 constitutional amendment which states: "The Legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples."[5] Attorney Jack Dwyer argued that voters thought they were defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Attorney General David Louie disagreed, arguing that the law allows the Legislature to define marriage as between opposite-sex couples if they want to, but it does not stop them from passing a law to the contrary.
Judge Sakamoto stated:
| “ | After all the legal complexity of the court's analysis, the court will conclude that same-sex marriage in Hawaii is legal.[5][6] | ” |
See also: Ballotpedia's State Legislative Tracker: Hawaii legalizes same-sex marriage
State court furloughs
In mid-2009, Governor Linda Lingle moved to institute mandatory furloughs for thousands of public employees in order to help close the $729 million budget shortfall over the next two years. Three state employee unions challenged her right to do so on constitutional grounds, saying that the constitutional provision "granting public employees the right to collective bargaining bars the governor from altering state worker wages and hours without negotiating with their representatives". Sakamoto agreed that Lingle had overstepped her bounds, and granted an injunction preventing the mandatory furloughs.
"Furloughs involve wages, actual wages decreasing," Sakamoto said. "Furloughs as core subjects of collective bargaining must be negotiated."
Attorney General Mark Bennett said the state was seriously considering an appeal to Sakamoto's ruling.[7]
See also
- O`ahu First Circuit Court, Hawaii
- News: UPDATE: Gov. Abercrombie must reveal judicial candidates, November 15, 2011
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Hawaii State Judiciary, "First Circuit (Oahu) Judges Telephone Listing," accessed April 27, 2015
Footnotes
- ↑ Hawai`i State Judiciary, First Circuit Telephone Directory
- ↑ Hawaii State Legislature, "GM 310"
- ↑ Governor.Hawaii.gov, "Governor's offfice news release: Governor Ige to consider nominees for three vacancies in First Circuit Court (O'ahu)," October 2, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hawaii State Legislature, "STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3583 Honolulu, Hawaii, 2000 RE: GOV. MSG. NO. 310"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Los Angeles Times, "Hawaii judge refuses to block law permitting same-sex marriage," November 14, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Associated Press "Hawaii judge halts furloughs for state employees" July 3, 2009
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Hawaii • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Hawaii
State courts:
Hawaii Supreme Court • Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals • Hawaii Circuit Courts • Hawaii District Courts • Hawaii Family Courts
State resources:
Courts in Hawaii • Hawaii judicial elections • Judicial selection in Hawaii
