Call for Most Qualified Nominee to Hawaiʻi Intermediate Court of Appeals
Earlier this week, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi Executive Director Marti Townsend provided testimony on behalf of the Club, opposing Governor Ige’s nomination of Daniel Gluck to the Intermediate Court of Appeals. As she stated in her testimony,
“Governor Ige chose to nominate the least qualified and sole white male candidate on the list of six attorneys presented to him by the judicial selection committee…[his] decision to nominate an unqualified white male over five other demonstrably more qualified candidates, including women and people of color, is an example of white male supremacy that must be corrected.”
After listening to testimony, the Senate Judiciary declined to recommend Daniel Gluck’s nomination to the full Senate on July 28th. A day later, Gluck offered to withdraw his name from further consideration and the full Senate also voted not to confirm his appointment.
In response to these events, a coalition of citizens who had stepped forward and spoken out in opposition to Governor Ige’s Intermediate Court of Appeals nomination issued the following joint statement:
————
In a time of social reckoning around the world, including Hawai‘i, this is a historic moment. We acknowledge Mr. Gluck and appreciate his gracious offer to step down and create an opportunity for an underrepresented candidate. While the delay in this decision caused prolonged struggle and hurt for many people who carried the heavy burden of this situation, it also sparked a necessary and overdue public dialogue on the systemic bias in Hawai‘i society. This controversy exposed, in full view, Hawai‘i’s painful legacy and persistent affliction of white supremacy and patriarchy that continues to hold our society back from becoming the true model of diversity and democracy that it aspires to be for all of Hawai‘i’s people.
We call on the Governor to consider and embrace the revelations in this process and chart a decisive new path away from the long-running biases in judicial appointments. We also call for necessary inquiries and reforms of the judicial selection process that will enable the systemic changes that are needed going forward.
Mahalo piha to all of the Senators who refused to rationalize and perpetuate the injustice and exercised their duty as the voice of the people in this process to reject the appointment.
We also mahalo the many courageous individuals, including practicing attorneys, who publicly stepped forward under these trying circumstances to make their voices heard and demand change—as well as the many more people who saw and recognized the injustice and joined us in spirit. We honor the women of color who predominantly bore this burden, as well as the white allies who showed true solidarity in this time of crisis. Today, and hopefully moving forward into the future, our democracy is richer and stronger for it.
Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, Maui County Council Vice-Chair
Summer Sylva, Native Hawaiian Bar Association President
Crystal Gail Kamakealohaokalani Glendon, Law Office of Crystal Glendon
Marti Townsend, Sierra Club
Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, Professor of Political Science, University of Hawaiʻi
Noelani Goodyear-Kaopua, Professor of Political Science, University of Hawaiʻi
Elena L. Bryant, Native Hawaiian attorney
Healani Sonoda-Pale, Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi Kōmike Kālaiʻāina
Camille Kalama, Native Hawaiian attorney
Candace Fujikane, Professor of English, University of Hawaiʻi
Wayne Chung Tanaka, Esq.
Sandra Ann Kauʻionālani Pratt-Aquino, Principal Attorney and Founder, Pratt Law Hawaiʻi LLC
Letani G. Peltier, Pelekikena, King Kamehameha Hawaiian Civic Club
David Kauila Kopper, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation
D. Kapuaʻala Sproat, Native Hawaiian attorney & Professor of Law
Jill Leilani Nunokawa, Esq., Civil Rights Specialist
Jocelyn Doane, Native Hawaiian attorney
Gary Hooser, Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action
Rebecca Justine ʻIolani Soon, Native Hawaiian attorney
Amy Agbayani
Dr. Troy J.H. Andrade, Director, Ulu Lehua Scholars Program
————