STAND. COM. REP. NO 674

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 615

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 615 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE VI, SECTION 3, OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF HAWAII,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to propose an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Hawaii to clarify the responsibilities and procedures for judicial appointments pursuant to article VI, section 3.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

     Your Committee finds that this measure would clarify responsibilities and procedures with regard to judicial appointments pursuant to article VI, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.  Specifically, this measure would seek to avoid the situation that occurred in 2012 with regard to the nomination of a Supreme Court justice by the Governor.  In that situation, the Governor informed the Senate of the appointment thirty-two days after being presented with a list of nominees from the Judicial Selection Commission, which was two days after the expiration of the constitutionally mandated thirty-day time period.  However, the appointment was deemed valid by the Attorney General under the reasoning that the Governor's initial press conference to announce the nomination occurred five days prior to the expiration of the thirty-day period and was thus determined to be an open and unequivocal act of providing notice to the Senate.  Consequently, the Attorney General's determination of the date of the Governor's appointment effectively shortened the Senate's constitutionally authorized thirty days to consider the appointment.

     Your Committee finds that it would be beneficial for the state constitution to be amended to clarify that written notice of a nomination must be given to the Legislature by the Governor.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by clarifying the question to be placed on the ballot to reference that the Senate has thirty days from receipt of written notice to take action on a judicial nomination.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 615, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 615, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair