The Hawaiʻi State Senate on Friday voted unanimously to confirm Gov. David Ige's latest nomination, Sonja McCullen, to the Intermediate Court of Appeals.
Senator Karl Rhoads, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee said, “Judge McCullen’s proven legal experience will serve her well as a member of the ICA.”
Earlier this week, the committee voted unanimously to recommend the full Senate confirm McCullen to the ICA.
The Senate last month voted down Ige’s first choice for the position, a white man, amid complaints that it had been decades since a Native Hawaiian had been appointed to the state’s appeals or supreme courts.
Ige had initially appointed Dan Gluck to the appeals court, selecting him from a list of names provided by the Judicial Selection Commission as required by state law.
Gluck attempted to withdraw his name from the confirmation process after large numbers testified against him, but doing so would have created confusion over how the next appointment would be made. The Senate went ahead and voted not to consent to his appointment, which allowed the governor to make another appointment.
McCullen is Native Hawaiian and currently a deputy prosecuting attorney in Honolulu.
Senators on Wednesday heard testimony that McCullen was smart, compassionate and would serve with diligence, competence and humility.
Melody MacKenzie testified on behalf of the Native Hawaiian Bar Association saying that McCullen's extensive experience as an appellate attorney would enable her to make a smooth transition to the appeals court and help the court address its case backlog.
“She is a compassionate person of good moral character with excellent appellate experience,” MacKenzie said.
McCullen's current boss, Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm, said he would hate to lose her in his office, saying she has been a “workhorse” on appeals cases.
“She’s down-to-earth, she’s smart, she’s compassionate. She’s going to be the last one to toot her own horn,” Alm said.
McCullen previously served as a lawyer for United Public Workers and was a law clerk for Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Associate Justice Paula Nakayama. She spent nearly five years in her first career teaching Hawaiian studies and language at Waiʻanae High School.
She earned her bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Hawaiʻi and graduated from high school on Hawaiʻi Island. She told senators she is also of Korean, Japanese and Portuguese ancestry.
McCullen said she was from a working-class family. Her father was an Aloha Airlines baggage handler and her mother a lei maker.
McCullen's term of office as an ICA judge will be for 10 years.
