Introduction of a Bill to Convert the Fourth Temporary Judgeship for the District of Hawaii to Permanent Judgeship Status

Floor Speech

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reintroduce a bill that would convert the fourth temporary judgeship for the District of Hawaii to permanent judgeship status.

The fourth temporary judgeship for the District of Hawaii was created in 1990 by Public Law 101-650. Although the judges appointed to temporary judgeships have lifetime appointments, legislation creating temporary judgeships usually specifies that the first vacancy in the district cannot be filled after a certain date. In the 1990 bill, this time frame was determined to be ten years after each temporary judgeship was filled. That meant that Hawaii could not fill a temporary vacancy occurring after October 2004.

Currently, the District of Hawaii has four active judges. However, if any of these judges become inactive, by taking senior status or otherwise, the district will not be able to replace that judge because of the ten-year limitation, which has long passed. This would place a great burden on not only the three remaining active judges, but also on the litigants themselves, especially civil litigants. Due to the right to speedy trial, felony cases regularly bump civil trials off the calendar, leading to long delays to get to court for civil litigants. Civil cases include disputes involving personal injury, civil rights, the environment, business, and other non-criminal matters.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on this and other initiatives that will address our need for additional federal judgeships across the country.

Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much).

END

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