Wednesday, September 1
In Support of Judge Katherine Leonard's Nomination to Chief Justice
To Whom It May Concern:
Please find enclosed a copy of my plea to the Hawaii State Senate supporting the nomination of Katherine Leonard for Hawaii's Supreme Court Chief Justice. I would like you to have these remarks so that you will think about what I consider to be two serious problems with "Advise & Consent" and the passage of legislation.
1. Good people testify at hearings and their opinions are noted in the public record. Testifiers are subject to questioning at hearings. It is unconscionable that some senators freely admit that they take advice and base their votes on legislation from "off the record" or anonymous sources. This practice dramatically affects Advise and Consent and legislation because there is no recourse for open or free debate. We cannot afford to have a government where decision making is made anonymously or "off the record" and is often based on errant information that goes unchallenged behind the dark veil of anonymity.
2. Judicial activism is the other large problem. I respect Senator Hee's open and honest dissertation on how judicial activism overcomes errant law; however, I disagree with Senator Hee's logic. Brown vs Board of Education ruled that those laws being questioned and the deeds of Southern Democrat segregationists such as Faubus, Maddox, Wallace and others were unconstitutional. There is a huge difference between enforcing the Constitution and thereby nullifying errant law and instituting new law by judicial action based on a judge's personal beliefs at any given time. The Court should first and foremost uphold the Constitution.
These two issues-anonymous decision making without checks and balances and judicial activism-are problems at the state and national level. I'm sending you my presentation because I feel that it is one of the most important pleas I have made during my tenure in the Senate. I hope that you will utilize the concepts in this speech to educate the people of Hawaii as to why we need a vibrant two party system and honest decision-making.
Aloha,
Senator Fred Hemmings
State of Hawai'i
For Senator Hemming's remarks on Judge Katherine Leonard's nomination to Chief Justice during the 1st Special Session, please click here.
For previous news updates, visit our News Archives.