Voters will decide whether to change Hawaii’s Constitution to make the selection of District Court justices similar to how higher court justices are picked — and whether to rescind legislators’ ability to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.
Marriage equality — commonly known as same-sex marriage — became legal in Hawaii in 2013, in part, after public opinion saw a dramatic turnaround in support of same-sex marriages.
But back when people in Hawaii were 69% opposed to same-sex marriage, voters in 1998 gave the Legislature the power to limit marriages to opposite-sex couples.
Even though same-sex marriage is now legal, legislators still have the ability to outlaw it.
Legislators last session passed a bill to propose a constitutional amendment that would strip them of the power.
So the Nov. 5 election ballots will ask voters a one-sentence question: “Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislature’s authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples?”
The bill proposing the constitutional amendment was introduced by House Speaker Scott Saiki, who fought to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013 over fierce opposition from some faith-based organizations and their members.
Voters’ decision on whether to repeal the Legislature’s ability to roll back same-sex marriages could represent the coda to Saiki’s 30-year political career.
He lost reelection in the Aug. 10 Democratic Party primary and will leave office on Nov. 5, the same day as the general election.
Voters also will have the option of a second constitutional amendment that would make the selection of District Court judges more in line with the selection of higher court judges.
District Court judges would still be selected by Hawaii’s chief justice from a list provided from the Judicial Selection Commission. And the governor would still select judges for Hawaii’s Circuit Courts, Intermediate Court of Appeals and Supreme Court from a list provided by the Judicial Selection Commission.
All judicial appointments face Senate confirmation.
But the details of the process differ between how District Court judges and higher court judges get approved.
So voters will be asked: “Shall the Constitution of the State of Hawaii be amended to make the appointment and confirmation process for district court judges the same as the appointment and confirmation process for supreme court justices and intermediate court of appeals and circuit court judges, which would require:
“(1) The Judicial Selection Commission to present the Chief Justice with a list of not less than four and not more than six nominees for a vacancy:
“(2) A district court appointee to be automatically considered appointed if the Senate fails to reject the appointment within thirty days of receiving the appointment notice:
“(3) The Chief Justice to make another appointment from the list of district court nominees within ten days if the Senate rejects an appointment; and
“(4) The appointment and consent procedure to be followed until a valid appointment is made, or failing this, the Judicial Selection Commission to make the appointment from the list of nominees, without Senate consent?”
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