Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed a career deputy public defender as an Oahu circuit judge Monday, a switch from the tendency of his predecessor Linda Lingle of naming prosecutors and former prosecutors to the bench.
Karen Nakasone, 41, a deputy public defender since 1996, was named to the 10-year term subject to Senate confirmation.
"Karen Nakasone reflects a broad and deep understanding of Hawaii, its rich heritage and recognition of the role of the judiciary plays in contemporary society," the governor said in a news release.
It is the third judicial appointment by the Democratic governor, who appointed Sabrina McKenna as a Hawaii Supreme Court associate justice and Rhonda Loo as a Maui circuit judge this year.
During Lingle’s eight-year tenure, the Republican governor made no secret of her penchant of naming prosecutors and lawyers with prosecutorial backgrounds to the bench.
Lingle said she wanted to balance a justice system that did not have enough of those kinds of judges.
Among her appointments with prosecutorial backgrounds are Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald and Chief Judge Craig Nakamura on the Intermediate Court of Appeals. She also named to the circuit bench deputy prosecutors who included Randal Lee, Glenn Kim and Rom Trader.
McKenna was in civil practice and a longtime state judge until her high court appointment this year.
Loo was a deputy prosecutor with the Maui prosecutor’s office but had been a state district judge for about 14 years when Abercrombie named her to the circuit bench.
It is unclear whether Abercrombie could have chosen prosecutors, because the governor is not releasing the names of the four to six candidates submitted to him by the Judicial Selection Commission for each judicial vacancy.
Asked whether Nakasone’s appointment signals a change from Lingle’s practices, Abercrombie’s office said, "The governor has selected his nominees based on background, quality of character and commitment to justice."
Nakasone, a graduate of Hawaii Baptist Academy, Bryn Mawr College and Boston University School of Law, served as law clerk for Simeon Acoba while he was on the appeals court.
She is also a former president of the Honolulu chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League.
"I believe that being able to serve the broader community one belongs to is not only an obligation, but is a privilege to be embraced," she said.
"I am truly grateful and extremely humbled by this opportunity to serve on the 1st Circuit Court bench."
Nakasone would fill the vacancy created when McKenna was elevated to the high court.
The state Senate would have to convene in special session within 30 days to act on the nomination. If it doesn’t reject the appointment during that time, the nomination will become effective with the Senate deemed to have approved it.
Senate President Shan Tsutsui’s office said it has not made any plans for a session because it had not received official notification of the appointment.
