Society helped Hawai'i adopt a version of judicial selection held in high esteem
By Daniel H. Case
The contributions of the American Judicature Society to the state of Hawai'i are many:
In the mid-1970s, a number of attorneys and judges began looking into changing Hawai'i's system for appointment of judges from the traditional gubernatorial appointment system to one called "merit selection."
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The Hawai'i State Bar Association supported the idea and in 1977 created a committee to study the problem and put together a proposal for the establishment of a Judicial Selection Commission, a proposal which would require an amendment to the state Constitution.
Before this undertaking the judicature society was contacted to provide us with needed history and samples from elsewhere from which we could create a commission for Hawai'i.
We were provided with all kinds of helpful material supporting the benefits of merit selection. Over the course of a year, numerous issues arose and we were in regular contact with the society for answers to our questions, for reviews of our draft sections and for additional historical material.
After a draft proposal was completed, we sent it to the society for review and comment, and received helpful commentary and suggested changes, from which a final draft was prepared.
During the subsequent Constitutional Convention, a good number of the members of the committee, as well as other members of the state bar association, spoke in favor of the proposal.
Unfortunately, the climate of the convention was such that the bar association proposal was not considered a priority and there was also a current of cynicism about lawyers proposing a new system basically run by lawyers for selection of lawyers as our judges.
The plan was sent to the convention's Judiciary Committee, but a number of issues were about the structure of the proposal and even the benefits of such a system.
At a critical juncture in the committee's deliberations, the bar association asked that a representative of the society appear and testify in support of the proposal. The society sent Allen Ashman to testify at some length, quite effectively, at the society's own cost.
This testimony tipped the proposal out of the Judiciary Committee and onto the floor of the convention, for ultimate passage. Hawai'i's voters supported the amendment to our Constitution in the 1978 elections, and so Hawai'i now has a version of a Judicial Selection Commission held in high esteem by many other states seeking or already using such a system.
Daniel H. Case was president of the state bar association in 1978.
