All week The Conversation has been learning about the judiciary’s specialty courts from the first Drug Court program that’s been in place for three decades to Girls Court and now Women’s Court.
In June the Judiciary honored the first six graduates of the Mohala Wahine program — also known as Women’s Court.
Women’s Court began in 2023 as a pilot program in the First Circuit on Oʻahu. This past legislative session, lawmakers made the program permanent and are hoping to copy its success on Hawaiʻi Island. A Women’s Court launched there this month.
HPR’s Catherine Cruz had a chance to talk to First Circuit District Court Judges Mark Browning and Trish Morikawa about why it’s important to offer these programs.
This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 17, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
