GOP: RODRIGUES MUST STEP DOWN FROM

JUDICIAL SELECTION PANEL

INDICTMENT CREATES CONFLICT OF INTEREST

We are calling on LJPW State Director, Gary Rodrigues to step down as a member of the Hawaii's Judicial Selection Committee. We want Mr. Rodrigues to respect the integrity of the judicial selection process and the honor of public service by temporarily stepping down from the panel until his indictment by the Federal Grand Jury is resolved.

We will be introducing a House Resolution to this effect today. We would hope that Mr. Rodrigues will voluntarily step down without any prodding from the legislature or the Governor.

The sanctity of the selection process is at stake. Public confidence in the judicial selection process will be undermined if Mr. Rodrigues continues serving while he awaits trial. The honor of public service will be seriously compromised if someone indicted by a federal grand jury for embezzlement, money laundering, and fraud, continues to remain in a position to select our state judges. For the sake of public confidence, he should step down temporarily until this legal matter is resolved.

Our resolution also calls for the selection committee to address this problem if Mr. Rodrigues does not step down. Since there are no current rules that cover such a situation, therefore we are calling for both the committee and Governor Cayetano to ask Mr. Rodrigues temporarily to remove himself from this panel.

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