Shanlyn A.S. Park — a state court judge since 2021 and who for 20 years was an assistant federal public defender for the District of Hawaii — has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court for Hawaii.

If confirmed, Park will make history as the first Native Hawaiian woman to serve on the federal bench. On the District Court, she would join Chief Judge Derrick Kahala Watson, who is the fourth-ever Native Hawaiian federal judge. That doubles the number of Native Hawaiian federal judges nationwide to … two.