ILind: Governor Abercrombie pissy to the end in judicial disclosure case
ILind: So Neil continues to say he’s opposed to transparency and hasn’t changed his view in that regard despite the disclosure of these judicial nominees.
Just think politics. Isn’t anyone on the 5th floor doing that these days? Who’s happy with Neil’s position? It certainly isn’t something that will turn Neil-bashers into fans. But it certainly has already undermined the enthusiasm of progressive Dems who have been Neil’s fans, and by stubbornly pushing on, the governor risks losing a significant chunk of his base.
Remember the last time a Democratic governor left a big chunk of the political base with a bitter aftertaste? It was the dynamic that opened the door for Linda Lingle to claim the governorship for the Republican Party for the first time in more than 40 years after Gov. Cayetano left former political allies feeling burned. With that big U.S. Senate seat up for grabs next year, the governor now needs to avoid unnecessary instances of “friendly fire.” This was an opportunity, and he’s blown it big time….
Neil chose to be recalcitrant and pissy to the end….
read … Pissy to the End
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News Release from Hawaii Attorney General November 26, 2011
Attorney General David M. Louie, acting on behalf of Governor Neil Abercrombie, today released three lists of judicial nominees provided to the Governor by the Judicial Selection Commission. Mr. Louie stated:
“Governor Abercrombie believes that the selection of individual judges is one of the most significant and enduring decisions made by any governor. The Governor has consistently maintained that the controlling legal authority for the release of such lists was the Judicial Selection Commission's rule of confidentiality. In Pray v. Judicial Selection Commission, the Hawaii Supreme Court held that this rule allowed for confidentiality and said it was within the sole discretion of the Governor to decide whether to release such lists after he received them. The Governor has also said that if the lists of nominees were to be disclosed, they should be disclosed by the Commission.
One week ago, in a process that was ongoing for the last six months, the Commission changed its rule and decided to disclose such names in the future. The Governor continues to maintain, pursuant to the Pray decision, that he has discretion with regard to prior lists provided to him, and disagrees with the recent ruling by a judge that he should disclose such lists. However, in light of the changed circumstances with the Commission's actions, judicial applicants will no longer have any expectation of confidentiality. Consequently, the following lists are now being released.”
Associate Justice, Hawaii Supreme Court
- Derrick H.M. Chan
- Daniel R. Foley
- Sabrina McKenna
- Craig H. Nakamura
- Richard W. Pollack
Judge, First Circuit Court
- Leslie A. Hayashi
- Shirley M. Kawamura
- Lono J. Lee
- Karen T. Nakasone
- Bode A. Uale
Judge, Second Circuit Court
- Mimi DesJardins
- David M. Jorgensen
- Kelsey T. Kawano
- Rhonda I.L. Loo
- Douglas J. Sameshima
- Joseph L. Wildman
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