Posted on: Wednesday, May 12, 2004

NAACP critical of decision on judge

Advertiser Staff

A decision by the state Judicial Selection Commission not to reappoint Hawai'i's only African-American judge, and one of the few women on the bench, to a 10-year term in Circuit Court "sends a terrible message to the community," Faye Kennedy, the first vice president of the local chapter of the NAACP said yesterday.

The selection commission filed a notice Monday with the Hawai'i Supreme Court saying that Circuit Judge Sandra Simms would not be reappointed. The commission gave no reason for its decision because the panel's internal rules require that all matters be kept confidential.

The commission will now have to screen candidates and submit a list to Gov. Linda Lingle to fill Simms' vacancy.

A state that prides itself on diversity has very few African American jurists and very few women on the bench, Kennedy said.

"There may be a perception, and I'm almost reluctant to say, but we had only one African American judge and she was not reappointed," Kennedy said.

"A lot of other judges have made controversial rulings and have been reappointed at the same time, but Judge Simms is perceived as too lenient," she said.

She said the NAACP sent two letters in support of Simms to the Judicial Selection Commission.

"I would hate to assume that the commission's decisions are racially motivated — they probably are not," Kennedy said.

But the fact that decisions are made in secret as to which judges are reappointed does nothing to dispel that concern, no matter how remote, she said.

She described Simms as a role model, a judge who tried to be fair, balanced and empathetic to defendants and victims alike who appeared in her court.

Kennedy said the local NAACP chapter meets monthly and that she expects the issue of how to encourage more African Americans to apply to be judges in Hawai'i to be discussed.