Sabrina McKenna | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii | |
| Assumed office March 3, 2011 | |
| Appointed by | Neil Abercrombie |
| Preceded by | Mark E. Recktenwald |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 7,1957 Tokyo,Japan |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Hawaii,Manoa (BA,JD) |
Sabrina Shizue McKenna (born October 7,1957) is an American judge from the U.S. state of Hawaii. Since March 3,2011,she has served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii.
McKenna was born on October 7,1957,in Tokyo,Japan. [1] Her father was a professor from the Midwestern United States and her mother was a Japanese national. [2] McKenna's father died when she was 9 years old. [3] McKenna graduated from Yokota High School in Tokyo. [1]
McKenna attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa,where she played on the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine women's basketball team. [3] She was one of the first beneficiaries of Title IX. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese. [3] McKenna then earned her Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law. [3]
McKenna was an associate at Goodsill Anderson Quinn &Stifel until 1987,then served as general counsel to Otaka,Inc. until 1990. She became an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii Law School before being appointed a District Court judge on November 30,1993. She was elevated to the Circuit Courts on June 29,1995. [4]
McKenna was one of three candidates recommended to President Barack Obama by Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka to fill a judicial vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii. [1] McKenna did not receive the nomination,which went to Leslie E. Kobayashi in April 2010. [1]
On January 25,2011,Governor Neil Abercrombie nominated McKenna to a seat on the Hawaii Supreme Court. [1] The Hawaii Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on her nomination on February 4 and advanced her nomination to the full Senate by a vote of 5–0. [5] Over one hundred pieces of testimony were submitted to the Judiciary Committee with respect to her nomination,the vast majority of which were supportive of McKenna. [5] Of the five testimonies that opposed McKenna's appointment,four did so because of her sexual orientation. [5] On February 16,2011,the Hawaii Senate approved her nomination by a vote of 23–0. [6] She was sworn in on March 3,2011. [7]
McKenna has three children. [1] [3] McKenna is the first openly gay judge to serve on the Hawaii Supreme Court. [1] As of 2023,she is one of twelve openly LGBT state supreme court justices serving in the United States.[ citation needed ]
William Shaw Richardson was an American attorney,political figure,and chief justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court from 1966 to 1982. Prior to his service as the top jurist in Hawaii,Richardson was lieutenant governor under John A. Burns. Previous to that tenure from 1956 to 1962 he was chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.
Paula Aiko Nakayama is an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court from 1993 to 2023. After Rhoda V. Lewis,Nakayama is second woman to ever serve on the Hawaii State Supreme Court. She is also the first Asian American woman to serve as a state supreme court justice nationwide. Currently serving her third term,Nakayama served her first term from 1993 to 2003 and her second term from 2003 to 2013.
Virginia Lynn Linder is an American judge from Oregon who served as the 99th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from January 2007 until January 2016. She served on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 1997 until her election to the state's Supreme Court in the 2006,an electoral campaign in which she defeated former Labor Commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Roberts.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Hawaii since December 2,2013. The Hawaii State Legislature held a special session beginning on October 28,2013,and passed the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act legalizing same-sex marriage. Governor Neil Abercrombie signed the legislation on November 13,and same-sex couples began marrying on December 2,making Hawaii the fifteenth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. Hawaii also allows both same-sex and opposite-sex couples to formalize their relationships legally in the form of civil unions and reciprocal beneficiary relationships. Civil unions provide the same rights,benefits,and obligations of marriage at the state level,while reciprocal beneficiary relationships provide a more limited set of rights. When Hawaii's civil union law took effect at the start of 2012,same-sex marriages established in other jurisdictions were considered civil unions in Hawaii.
Susan Naomi Oki Mollway is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and the first East Asian woman and Japanese-American woman ever appointed to a life-time position on the federal bench.
Leslie Emi Kobayashi is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
Alison Julie Nathan is an American lawyer who has served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 2022. She served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2011 to 2022. She previously served as associate White House counsel for President Barack Obama.
Beth Robinson is an American lawyer and judge from Vermont. She is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and is the first openly lesbian judge to serve on any federal court of appeals. Robinson served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 2011 to 2021.
Derrick Kahala Watson is an American lawyer who serves as the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
The Hawaii Marriage Equality Act of 2013 is legislation passed by the Hawaii State Legislature as Senate Bill 1 (SB1) and signed by Governor Neil Abercrombie which legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Prior to the bill's enactment,same-sex couples in the state of Hawaii were allowed to form civil unions or reciprocal beneficiary relationships;however,civil unions are both legally limited to civil officials in their performance and unrecognized by the federal government,and RBRs are even more limited by the rights and privileges accorded.
Clare Elizabeth Connors is an American lawyer who has served as the United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii since 2022. She served as the 16th attorney general of Hawaii from January 3,2019,to December 10,2021. She was also a former nominee for United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
Michael D. Wilson is an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court from 2014 to 2023. Prior to being appointed to the Hawaii Supreme Court,Wilson served as a circuit court judge for the Hawaii First Circuit from 2000 to 2014.
Jill Aiko Otake is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
Allison Blair Jones Rushing is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit since March 2019.
Lisa Miyoko Ginoza is an American lawyer from Hawaii who has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii since 2024. She previously served as the chief judge of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals from 2018 to 2024.
Frances Marie Tydingco-Gatewood is an American attorney and jurist. She has served as chief judge of the federal District Court of Guam since 2006,having been nominated by President George W. Bush. Prior to this,she served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court of Guam and as trial judge on the Superior Court of Guam.
Tamika Renee Montgomery-Reeves is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She previously served as an Associate Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.
Shanlyn Alohakeao Souza Park is an American lawyer from Hawaii who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii since 2024. She previously served as a judge of the Hawaii First Circuit Court from 2021 to 2024.
Statewide political officials of Hawaii | ||
|---|---|---|
| U.S. senators |  | |
| State government |
| |
| Senate |
| |
| House |
| |
| Supreme Court |
| |