Lingle today announced the names on the list handed to her by the Judicial Selection Commission. They are Lowell Chun-Hoon, James E. Duffy Jr., Eden E. Hifo, Sabrina S. McKenna, Richard K. Perkins and Richard W. Pollack.

The selection is being closely watched because it will be the first made to the five-member state Supreme Court by a Republican governor in four decades.

Duffy, 60, was nominated by former President Bill Clinton to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1999. But the nomination stalled in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate. When President George. W. Bush took office, he pulled the nomination and instead nominated Honolulu attorney Richard Clifton, a move that led Hawai'i's senators Dan Inouye and Daniel Akaka to try to block confirmation. Clifton was finally confirmed in July.

Duffy has had his own practice since the dissolution of the law firm Fujiyama Duffy and Fujiyama in August 2000. Hifo, 56; McKenna, 45; Perkins, 52; and Pollack, 52; are all judges in the 1st Circuit Court based in Honolulu. Chun-Hoon, 53, is a partner in the law firm of King Nakamura and Chun-Hoon.

The commission does not rank the candidates.

The vacancy is being created by the December retirement of Associate Justice Mario R. Ramil.

Lingle has 30 days from the March 19 receipt of the list to make her selection.

Rarely has a governor made such lists public prior to the selection, if at all. A release from Lingle's office this morning said she was releasing the names "in her continuing effort to maintain openness in her administration."