United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

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District of Hawaii
Ninth Circuit
Great seal of the United States.png
Judgeships
Posts: 4
Judges: 4
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Derrick Kahala Watson
Active judges: Jill Otake, Shanlyn A. S. Park, Micah W. J. Smith, Derrick Kahala Watson

Senior judges:
David Alan Ezra, Helen Gillmor, Alan Cooke Kay, Leslie Kobayashi, Susan Oki Mollway, John Seabright


The United States District Court for the District of Hawaii is one of 94 United States district courts. The court is located at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building in Honolulu. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, out of the court's four judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.


Active judges

Article III judges

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

Derrick Kahala Watson

Barack Obama (D)

April 23, 2013 -

Harvard University, 1988

Harvard Law, 1991

Jill Otake

Donald Trump (R)

August 3, 2018 -

Georgetown University, 1995

University of Washington School of Law, 1998

Micah W. J. Smith

Joe Biden (D)

January 31, 2024 -

Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, 2003

Harvard Law School, 2006

Shanlyn A. S. Park

Joe Biden (D)

October 15, 2024 -

Chaminade University

University of Hawaii William Richardson School of Law


Active Article III judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

  • Democrat appointed: 3
  • Republican appointed: 1

Senior judges

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

Alan Cooke Kay

Ronald Reagan (R)

January 2, 2000 -

Princeton University, 1957

University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, 1960

Helen Gillmor

Bill Clinton (D)

June 30, 2009 -

City University of New York, Queens College, 1965

Boston University School of Law, 1968

David Alan Ezra

Ronald Reagan (R)

June 27, 2012 -

St. Mary's University, 1969

St. Mary's University School of Law, 1972

Susan Oki Mollway

Bill Clinton (D)

November 6, 2015 -

University of Hawaii, 1971

Harvard Law School, 1981

John Seabright

George W. Bush (R)

January 30, 2024 -

Tulane University, 1981

George Washington University Law Center, 1984

Leslie Kobayashi

October 9, 2024 -

Wellesley College, 1979

Boston College School of Law, 1983


Senior judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

  • Democrat appointed: 3
  • Republican appointed: 2

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.[1]

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.[2][3][4]

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.[2][3][4]

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.[1][2][3][4]

On the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the president of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.[5]


Former judges

For more information about the judges of the District of Hawaii, see former federal judges of the District of Hawaii.

Magistrate judges

Federal magistrate judges are federal judges who serve in United States district courts, but they are not appointed by the president and they do not serve life terms. Magistrate judges are assigned duties by the district judges in the district in which they serve. They may preside over most phases of federal proceedings, except for criminal felony trials. The specific duties of a magistrate judge vary from district to district, but the responsibilities always include handling matters that would otherwise be on the dockets of the district judges. Full-time magistrate judges serve for renewable terms of eight years. Some federal district courts have part-time magistrate judges, who serve for renewable terms of four years.[6]

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

Kenneth J. Mansfield

United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

April 1, 2016 -

Middlebury College

University of Pennsylvania Law School

Rom Trader

United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

January 7, 2019 -

University of Hawaii, Manoa

University of Hawaii, Manoa

Wes Reber Porter

United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

May 8, 2019 -

Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law


Jurisdiction

The Counties of Hawaii (click for larger map)

The District of Hawaii has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The jurisdiction of the District of Hawaii consists of all the counties in the state of Hawaii.

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2023.

Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.


United States District Court for the District of Hawaii caseload stats, 2010-2022
Year Cases Filed Cases Terminated Cases Pending Number of Judgeships Vacant Judgeship Months Average Total Filings per Judgeship Trials Completed per Judgeship Median time from filing to disposition, criminal Median time from filing to disposition, civil Three-year civil cases (#) Three-year civil cases (%)
2010 1,220 992 1,116 4 12 305 13 10 9 22 3
2011 1,167 1,125 1,031 4 0 292 12 9 9 19 3
2012 1,169 1,254 1,101 4 6 292 17 10 9 22 3
2013 1,234 1,228 1,140 4 4 309 16 10 9 22 3
2014 1,074 1,260 955 4 0 269 12 11 7 32 6
2015 977 1,107 826 4 2 244 11 11 9 25 5
2016 1,113 972 973 4 12 278 13 11 8 29 5
2017 1,018 1,089 901 4 12 255 15 10 9 29 5
2018 845 871 883 4 12 211 14 12 10 31 6
2019 1,096 1,013 962 4 12 274 13 11 8 41 7
2020 942 875 1,021 4 0 236 7 10 7 48 8
2021 850 964 906 4 0 213 9 12 9 49 10
2022 821 865 861 4 0 205 11 17 9 51 11
Average 1,040 1,047 975 4 6 260 13 11 9 32 6


History

The District of Hawaii was established by Congress on March 18, 1959 with two posts to cover the entire state. Hawaii was established as a territorial government in 1900 and it was assigned to the Ninth Circuit. Over time two additional judicial posts were added for a total of four posts.[7]

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the District of Hawaii:[7]

Year Statute Total Seats
March 18, 1959 73 Stat. 4 2
July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333 3
December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 4


Federal courthouse

Four separate courthouses serve the District of Hawaii.

About United States District Courts

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.

There is a United States bankruptcy court and a number of bankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one.

There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. District courts in three insular areas—the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts. Despite their name, these courts are technically not District Courts of the United States. Judges on these territorial courts do not enjoy the protections of Article III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.

There are 677 U.S. District Court judgeships.[8][9]

The number of federal district judge positions is set by the U.S. Congress in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133, which authorizes a set number of judge positions, or judgeships, making changes and adjustments in these numbers from time to time.

In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.[10]

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Bill Clinton had the most district court appointments with 169.


Judges by district

See also: Judicial vacancies in federal courts

The table below displays the number of judges in each district and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies in a district and how many pending nominations for that district are before the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line, and you can navigate through the pages by clicking the arrows at the top of the table. It is updated every Monday.


Judicial selection

The district courts are served by Article III federal judges who are appointed for life during "good behavior." They are usually first recommended by senators (or members of the House, occasionally). The President of the United States makes the appointments, which must then be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution.[9]

Step ApprovedA Candidacy Proceeds DefeatedA Candidacy Halts
1. Recommendation made by Congress Member to the President President Nominates to Senate Judiciary Committee President Declines Nomination
2. Senate Judiciary Committee interviews Candidate Sends candidate to Senate for confirmation Returns candidate to President, who may re-nominate to Committee
3. Senate votes on candidate confirmation Candidate becomes federal judge Candidate does not receive judgeship

Magistrate judges

The district courts are also served by magistrate judges. Congress created the judicial office of federal magistrate in 1968. In 1990, the position title was changed to magistrate judge. The chief judge of each district appoints one or more magistrate judges, who discharge many of the ancillary duties of district judges so judges can handle more trials. There are both full-time and part-time magistrate judge positions, and these positions are assigned to the district courts according to caseload criteria (subject to funding by Congress). A full-time magistrate judge serves a term of eight years; a part-time magistrate judge's term of office is four years.[11]


See also

External links


Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 United States Courts, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed January 25, 2022
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 136 - Chief judges; precedence of district judges," accessed January 25, 2022
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 258 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 45 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
  5. ↑ Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 171 - Appointment and number of judges; character of court; designation of chief judge," accessed January 25, 2022
  6. ↑ U.S. District Court – NH, "Magistrate Judges of the District Court," accessed April 27, 2021
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Federal Judicial Center, "U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii: Legislative History," accessed April 28, 2021
  8. ↑ US Courts, "Federal Judgeships," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 U.S. Courts, "United States District Court Federal Judiciary Frequently Asked Questions," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
  10. ↑ United States District Courts, "District Courts," accessed May 10, 2021
  11. ↑ The 'Lectric Law Library, "Understanding the U.S. federal courts"


Hawaii courts

Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Hawaii • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Hawaii

State courts:

Hawaii Supreme Court • Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals • Hawaii Circuit Courts • Hawaii District Courts • Hawaii Family Courts

State resources:

Courts in Hawaii • Hawaii judicial elections • Judicial selection in Hawaii

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