Deputy defender takes on circuit judge role

For the first time in more than a decade, a member of the state public defender’s office will become a circuit judge.

The state Senate unanimously approved Karen Nakasone Thursday to a 10-year term on Oahu’s Circuit Court bench.

"My family and I are really humbled and grateful," Nakasone said.

Nakasone, 41, a deputy public defender since 1996, is Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s third judicial appointment.

She will be the first from the public defender’s office since Richard Pollack was appointed a circuit judge by then-Gov. Ben Cayetano 11 years ago.

Abercrombie’s predecessor, Linda Lingle, tended to appoint prosecutors or lawyers with prosecutorial backgrounds, saying the Judiciary didn’t have enough of those types of judges.

Nakasone’s background includes service as president of the Honolulu chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League from 2004 to 2006, when it took the controversial position of supporting Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada’s refusal to be deployed to Iraq because he thought the war was illegal.

Speaking in support of the appointment, Sen. Clayton Hee, chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee, which approved the nomination, said Nakasone’s leadership as president was not always "popular," but was "defendable."

He said her rulings as a judge might not always be "popular in eyes of the public," but he’s confident that they will be firmly based on the federal and state constitutions.

Hee also cited Nakasone’s internship with the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink and her clerkship with Associate Justice Simeon Acoba when he was on the appeals court.

Nakasone said she will be talking to Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald about when she will be sworn in as one of about 32 circuit judges throughout the state.

She said it usually takes a few weeks, depending on scheduling.

The senators approved the appointment in a 22-0 vote with three senators excused.