Posted on: Sunday, January 27, 2002
EDITORIAL
OK Clifton, Rohlfing, then ditch the politics
One could almost sense the gritted teeth behind senior Sen. Dan Inouye's statement that — barring unforeseen negative information — he will go along with the appointment of two Hawai'i Republicans to the federal bench.
That's not because the two, Richard Clifton and Frederick "Fritz" Rohlfing, are legally unqualified to sit on the federal bench. By all accounts they are qualified.
Rather, it is because Inouye is accepting appointments that have come from an unfortunately politicized process. It is clear that politics overshadows the other qualities in the appointment of federal judges not just in Hawai'i but across the country.
In addition to their other skills and attributes, both Clifton and Rohlfing have performed yeoman legal service for the local Republican Party over the years. It's no wonder the Bush White House felt comfortable with them as it looked for candidates for the U.S. District Court in Honolulu (Rohlfing) and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (Clifton).
Inouye had been holding back on the Clifton appointment, in part because he felt the White House failed to adequately consult with him beforehand, as is the tradition, and because he was upset that his own candidate for the 9th Circuit post, James Duffy, had been iceboxed and now apparently killed by Republicans in the Senate.
By contrast with Rohlfing and Clifton, Duffy's Democratic Party credentials are relatively modest; he was never deeply associated on a legal basis with the local Democratic Party.
But all that is history. Here we are. Hawai'i desperately needs another jurist on the local district bench and it has long deserved a slot on the 9th Circuit. Assuming that the vetting process by the Justice Department and the Senate turns up no substantive problems with either nominee, they should be quickly confirmed so they can get to work.
And with this finally behind us, let us hope that both the White House and the Senate — no matter who is in control — knock it off with the power politics and get back to finding and appointing nominees who can do the best job possible for the people of Hawai'i.
