Functional or not, 'it's the chief's court'
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Hawai'i Supreme Court meets in Ali'iolani Hale, where few oral arguments are heard. Lawyers want more oral arguments and are also calling for more published decisions.
| • | Commission's influence far-reaching |
Last installment. Read the entire series.
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Minutes before being sworn in to the Hawai'i Supreme Court in June, James Duffy stepped into the inner sanctum of the justices' conference room at the Ali'iolani Hale Judiciary Building on King Street to greet Chief Justice Ronald Moon and the three other associate justices.
| About this series
A four-part Advertiser report on the state's highest court. • Sunday — Challenges facing the Hawai'i Supreme Court today • Monday — Lives are on hold as the court tries to tackle its backlog of cases. • Yesterday — Lawyers want more guidance from the court. Plus, a look at tension on the bench. • Today — What's next for the court? |
When Duffy approached Steven Levinson, the veteran justice shook Duffy's hand vigorously and smiled.
"I feel functional already," Levinson said.
Levinson's quip was a reference to Gov. Linda Lingle's speech in April in which she called the Supreme Court "dysfunctional," the harshest remarks anyone can recall by a governor about the state's highest court.
Four days after the speech, Lingle announced she was appointing Duffy, hinting that he would help resolve problems she heard plagued the court, including a lack of collegiality among justices, a case backlog and rare oral arguments.
In addition, the Hawai'i State Bar Association president launched an unprecedented fact-finding inquiry into concerns about the appellate process, including the high court.
"Frankly, if we don't look into it at the bar, I don't know who else will," bar president Douglas Crosier said. "And I don't think anybody will, frankly."
Attorney James Bickerton, who is the chairman of the 10-member committee, said the committee is focusing primarily on the case backlog. The committee will determine what, if any, recommendations should be made to the bar association's board of directors, the judiciary and the Legislature.
Advertiser library photo • June 27, 2003
"There's a sense that a lot of the comments that people make about the work of the court can be traced back to the problem of the court having too large of a backlog of cases to work on," Bickerton said. "And I think that that puts a lot of pressure on the justices and it makes the public less satisfied with what's going on. So we believe that if you can solve that problem, then many problems get solved at the same time."
James Duffy Jr., left, whose background as a mediator may have played a role in his appointment to the high court, meets with Associate Justice Steven Levinson.
Bickerton declined to discuss any preliminary conclusions from the committee's work, but said the committee believes the backlog problem can be solved. He said the committee members are confident they will make recommendations that will be helpful to the court and to lawyers.
"We certainly haven't reached a point where we say, 'My goodness, this is an intractable or insoluble problem — we give up,' " he said.
Bickerton said lawyers' responses — which were solicited by the committee and are to remain confidential — reflected a range of opinions, with some praising the court and others criticizing it or expressing narrow concerns.
Crosier said he expects the committee to wrap up its work by the end of the year.
Moon said the court will listen to the bar association's concerns and "what they believe they should be doing to aid us in our efforts."
Issues regarding the case backlog are not new, and have plagued the court for decades.
Crosier said the fact that these concerns have existed for years is the very reason why the bar should be looking into them.
Some, however, question what will become of the committee's work and whether it will change anything.
Advertiser library photo • June 27, 2003
Crosier said he was hopeful any proposals will be well-received and implemented, adding that the bar association may ask the Legislature to change laws. One of the committee members is House Majority Leader Scott Saiki.
James Duffy Jr. shakes hands with Chief Justice Ronald Moon before Duffy's swearing-in ceremony in June. "Whatever Jim can bring to the table to assist the chief will be welcomed, I'm sure, but it's still Justice Moon's court," says former Associate Justice Robert Klein.
"A lot of these things are perceptions that have been articulated and that's why it's important for this committee to find out what the facts are so the court is not unjustly criticized by some," Crosier said.
Crosier did, however, credit Moon for starting a court mediation program and for supporting alternative dispute resolution efforts. He also applauded Moon for holding a "transparency" conference Nov. 7 with lawyers, the public and judges to determine what areas of the justice system can be more open in its process and cases. Crosier is one of the leaders of the committee that set up the conference.
"It's a step in the right direction," Crosier said.
Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert Klein gave Lingle credit for "having the courage" to bring up those issues in her speech, saying all systems could improve.
"But to me this is fine-tuning," he said. "This shouldn't be the hallmark of what the court did under Moon. And however long he stays there, they have high standards and they have an overwhelming caseload, and I would consider these things fine tuning rather than time for some wholesale changes."
The judiciary is receiving more money — $613,744 this year and $555,734 next year — for two more Intermediate Court of Appeals judges and staff. With the additional positions, the appellate court will have six judges. The appeals court decisions are issued by a three-judge panel.
Lawyers hope that will help ease the backlog, enabling the high court to have more oral arguments and published decisions.
Moon also said he wants to get all the justices to agree to the same internal rules on timeliness and other protocols that existed in the late 1990s under the court's backlog reduction project. He said he hopes to begin them in January.
Another issue, Moon and others say, is judicial salaries.
The low points in his administration, Moon said, were seeing experienced, good judges leave as years passed without pay increases. Moon also said that although judges and justices received raises in 2000, "it really wasn't adequate in keeping up with the cost of living."
The chief justice's salary is $116,779 a year; associate justices make $115,547 a year.
As of April, the average salary of chief justices nationwide is $128,886, while the average salary for associate justices is $124,738, according to a survey by the National Center for State Courts.
Moon said he is pleased the Legislature passed — and the governor signed — a bill that would authorize the Judicial Salary Commission to determine salaries of state justices and judges next year and every eight years thereafter. The salaries determined by the commission would automatically take effect unless the Legislature passes a resolution disapproving them.
And then there are the high expectations about Duffy. Some acknowledge it is too early to see any difference in his arrival, but at least some lawyers saw Lingle's appointment of Duffy to be a way of tapping his background as a mediator to address any problems on the court.
But Klein shrugged off that suggestion. "That's nice, but it's the chief's court," he said.
"Whatever Jim can bring to the table to assist the chief will be welcomed, I'm sure, but it's still Justice Moon's court. ... It will be his responsibility to do the changes that are necessary to change the perception of the court."
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
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