GOVERNOR GREEN APPOINTS NEW CHIEF JUDGE FOR INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS
Hawai‘i’s Female Judges will Outnumber Males by Summertime
News release from Office of the Governor, April 3, 2025
HONOLULU — Governor Josh Green, M.D., today announced the appointment of Karen T. Nakasone as the new Chief Judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA). Nakasone will fill the vacancy left by the elevation of Judge Lisa M. Ginoza to Associate Justice of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court.
“It is my pleasure to name Karen as Chief Judge of the ICA. Her hard work and stellar track record demonstrate that she has earned the appointment, and the comments of profound support submitted by her peers confirm that she is the right choice,” said Governor Green.
Nakasone has served on the ICA as an associate judge since she was sworn in on November 2, 2020. Initially appointed to the Circuit Court on O‘ahu by former Governor Neil Abercrombie on November 1, 2011, she served as a trial judge for nine years, in both the Civil and Criminal Divisions.
Earlier in her career Nakasone served as law clerk to ICA Judge Simeon R. Acoba Jr., then worked for 15 years as a criminal trial and appellate lawyer for the State Office of the Public Defender.
Judge Nakasone is a Pacific Century Fellow, class of 2008, and was named among the Best Lawyers Under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association in 2009.
A graduate of the Boston University School of Law and Bryn Mawr College, Nakasone also attended the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and studied abroad at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, on an Okinawan Prefectural Government scholarship from the Hawai‘i United Okinawa Association. Her high school alma mater is Hawai‘i Baptist Academy.
“Serving as Chief Judge on the second highest court of the state of Hawaiʻi is a tremendous honor, challenge and responsibility,” Nakasone said. “I am grateful for this opportunity to continue serving the people of Hawaiʻi on a court that I care very deeply about. I thank Governor Green for this appointment and look forward to the Senate confirmation process.”
Based on the gender totals on the bench today, the Governor’s four newest appointments will have 41 women and 38 men seated in the Judiciary.
According to the American Bar Association, there is widespread disparity across state and federal courts. “It has always been my priority to achieve male and female balance on the bench — and to get there with great attention to each appointee’s qualifications and careful deliberation, much the same way a judge makes decisions,” the Governor said. “Hawai‘i can be proud that we have so many well-qualified female judges. Young women who aspire to legal careers can see clearly in our courts, the heights that can be attained.”
A photo of Judge Nakasone can be found here.
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CB: Green Makes Appointment To Lead Hawaiʻi Appellate Court
Request for Public Comments – Chief Judge, Intermediate Court of Appeals, State of Hawai’i (Release Date: 11/29/2024)
JSC Press Release, November 29, 2024
The Judicial Selection Commission, State of Hawaiʻi, is governed by Article VI of the State Constitution which requires that all of its “deliberations” be confidential. The Judicial Selection Commission is committed to increasing the transparency of its activities to the extent permitted by law and consistent with its goal of choosing the best possible nominees from the broadest and most diverse pool of candidates it can obtain. Until March 16, 2022, the Judicial Selection Commission Rules have prohibited the Judicial Selection Commission from sharing the names of applicants applying for judicial positions.
In accordance with the Judicial Selection Commission Rule 5, Section 2: Confidentiality A. as further amended and effective March 16, 2022, the Judicial Selection Commission announces the applicants applying for the judicial office of Chief Judge in the Intermediate Court of Appeals, State of Hawaiʻi.
The list of applicants applying to fill the vacancy for the judicial office of Chief Judge in the Intermediate Court of Appeals, State of Hawaiʻi, is listed as follows in alphabetical order:
James H. Ashford
Lance D. Collins
Daniel M. Gluck
Nickolas A. Kacprowski
Deirdre Marie-Iha
Karen T. Nakasone
Taryn R. Tomasa Gifford
Clyde J. Wadsworth
The Commission invites interested persons to submit written comments on the applicants applying for the judicial office of Chief Judge in the Intermediate Court of Appeals, State of Hawaiʻi.
Written comments should include the applicant’s name and information about the background, professional skills and character of the applicant in areas such as:
(1) integrity and moral courage
(2) legal ability and experience
(3) intelligence and wisdom
(4) compassion and fairness
(5) diligence and decisiveness
(6) judicial temperament
(7) such other qualities that the commission deems appropriate
(See Judicial Selection Commission Rule 10)
Written comments should also include the following contact information:
Your signature;
Your printed name;
Your phone number, including area code; and
Your email address, if applicable.
All written comments will be kept CONFIDENTIAL.
Please submit written comments postmarked or faxed no later than December 30, 2024 to:
Commission Chair Kamani B. Kualaʻau
Judicial Selection Commission
State of Hawaiʻi
417 South King Street
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96813
Fax: (808) 538-5205
SA: Nakasone is named chief judge of Intermediate Court of Appeals | Honolulu Star-Advertiser