Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald has guided the state Judiciary through furloughs and budget cuts, and while the Hawaii Supreme Court has made significant rulings under his watch, there have been no sweeping opinions signaling any new directions.

Recktenwald, early into his second year as the state’s fifth chief justice, said the Judiciary still faces "significant challenges" with a $132 million annual operating budget.

Although the two-days-a-month furlough for employees ended June 30, the chief justice said the number of court cases has increased.

He said the Judiciary has made some progress since he issued the "Justice in Jeopardy" report last December, pointing to indications that the amount of time it takes to process certain court cases has been reduced.

"We’re definitely moving in the right direction," he said.

While Recktenwald is reluctant to talk about the court’s jurisprudence, many in the legal community say it’s too early to detect any trends since he started his 10-year term as chief justice on Sept. 14, 2010.

They also point out that he has only one vote on the five-member high court, and Recktenwald is not known as the type who aggressively tries to impose his views on colleagues.

The underlying theme, some legal observers believe, is that Recktenwald brought continuity rather than change to the state’s third branch of government.

Recktenwald, 56, was an associate justice on the high court when former Gov. Linda Lingle appointed him chief justice after her initial choice of Appeals Judge Katherine Leonard was rejected by the state Senate.

Although he comes from a Republican background, Recktenwald’s appointment sailed through the Democratic-controlled Senate amid praise for his administrative and leadership abilities.

Early in his tenure, Recktenwald visited the courthouses around the state, talking to lawyers, Judiciary officials and staff to learn about issues they were facing.

"Recktenwald is a guy that everyone can talk to, and the whole system feels the difference," said Peter Esser, a Honolulu attorney who specializes in appeals.

In the "Justice in Jeopardy" report, Recktenwald wrote that the cuts and furloughs had "substantial negative effects throughout the judiciary system by reducing, delaying and in some cases eliminating important services."

During an interview in his chambers, Recktenwald said he’s grateful that the state Legislature approved the current $132 million budget, which is $2 million higher than last year but still 12 percent lower than the 2009 budget.

The money enabled the Judiciary to end the furloughs, but with an increase in caseload, including an estimated 6 percent increase in Circuit Court cases, the Judiciary still had to make cuts in operations, Recktenwald said.

But the chief justice also cites anecdotal reports that the time to process uncontested divorces has been reduced to four to six weeks from six to eight weeks. For traffic and drunken driving cases on Oahu, the time has also been reduced to two to three months from four to five months, he said.

The courts, however, still have not been able to restore 24 positions for probation officers lost in 2009, leaving each officer to deal with as many as 180 cases when the standard maximum is about 120.

"Our operations remain at a very austere level," Recktenwald said. The branch has some 1,875 employees.

With Recktenwald as chief justice, the high court has issued about two dozen published opinions, a pace slightly lower than previous years.

But Recktenwald notes that the court was one justice short for about a half-year before Sabrina McKenna filled the vacancy created when he was elevated to chief justice. In addition, the number of requests to the high court to review appeals court rulings dropped to about 120 in fiscal year 2011 from 146 in fiscal year 2010, the chief justice said.

The court’s 13 1⁄2-month track record, lawyers say, isn’t long enough to establish any trends.

"I think it’s too early to tell," said Maui lawyer Ben Lowenthal, who tracks appellate court decisions for his blog, Hawaii Legal News. "He hasn’t been a chief justice long enough to really recognize any patterns."

Jack Tonaki, state public defender, agreed but noted that two opinions by Recktenwald suggest he might be favoring law enforcement.

One was the court’s majority opinion that upheld the sufficiency of an animal nuisance charge, and the other was his dissent to a majority opinion that set aside an abuse charge against a man who punched his 14-year-old stepson and broke his nose.

Loren Thomas, chief of the Honolulu prosecutor’s Appeals Division, said high court rulings under Recktenwald have gone both for and against prosecutors. She doesn’t see any lean toward law enforcement.

"The decisions have been a fair application of the law," she said.

In civil cases, Recktenwald issued what might turn out to be the court’s most significant opinion when he wrote that non-Hawaiians do not have standing to seek the same property tax exemptions given to lessees in the Hawaiian Home Lands program.

The plaintiffs are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to set aside the decision.

If the justices decide to review the case, it could give them a chance to review not only the exemptions, but also other Native Hawaiian entitlements.

A pending case could also touch upon the high court’s long-standing recognition of the rights of Native Hawaiians to practice religious and cultural activities on land owned by others.

It involves a Kauai man convicted of residing in a restricted area of the state park in Kauai’s Kalalau Valley.

Lloyd Pratt’s appeal raises the issue of whether his activities as a Native Hawaiian caring for the area and for ancient Hawaiian burial sites negates the petty misdemeanor prosecution.

The high court has not indicated when it will rule.

On an administrative level, Recktenwald must still cope with the tight budget, but he said he has high hopes for initiatives that include working with the executive and legislative branches in the Justice Reinvestment Program, aimed at reducing the number of prisoners without compromising public safety.

He said the court is also contemplating holding oral arguments on appeals at other locations, including high schools.

In addition, the chief justice said he has formed a planning committee made up of 25 Judiciary employees at all levels to envision what the courts should be like in 2020, and ways to reach that goal.

The report is due at the end of next year.

As for the court’s jurisprudence, any predictions will become more complicated because of the upcoming addition of two new associate justices.

Associate Justices Jim Duffy and Simeon Acoba must leave the bench when they turn 70 because of the state’s mandatory retirement age law. For Duffy that’s next year and for Acoba it’s 2014.

But for now Recktenwald said he believes he presides over a "very collegial court."

"There are still many concurrences and dissents," said Esser, the Honolulu appeals lawyer, "but the level of discourse in opinions is much friendlier these days, even when they disagree."

Recktenwald said McKenna was a "great addition" with her wealth of experience as a trial judge.

"Going forward, I think the court will be very productive and continue to produce work of the highest quality," Recktenwald said.

Chief justice’s first year sees key rulings in a variety of important cases

Key rulings by the Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald’s Supreme Court:

>> Tax appeal of CompUSA, Feb. 14: CompUSA Stores must pay $1.7 million in state taxes on goods shipped from the mainland to its stores here from 1999 to 2002. The high court said a 2005 court ruling that the use tax did not apply to a mainland seller who sold and shipped books to the Hawaii State Library did not apply in the case. Recktenwald wrote the unanimous opinion.

>> Corboy V. Bennett, April 27: John Corboy and other non-Hawaiian real property owning taxpayers do not have standing to seek the same exemptions from property taxes as Native Hawaiian lessees of Hawaiian Home Lands. The taxpayers had filed a lawsuit contending the tax exemptions for the lessees discriminate on the basis of race in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Recktenwald wrote the opinion. The taxpayers are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.

>> State V. Kikuta, June 8: Cedric Kikuta, who was convicted of punching his 14-year-old stepson in the face and breaking his nose, was granted a new trial because he was precluded from raising the parental discipline defense. Associate Justice Simeon Acoba wrote the 3-2 majority
decision. Recktenwald dissented.

>> State V. Torres, Aug. 9: Jenaro Torres, who was convicted of murder, was granted a new trial because of improper testimony. But the high court also declared that evidence seized on federal property or in another state can be admitted in Hawaii courts only if it was seized in accordance with the Hawaii Constitution and state law. The ruling is significant because Hawaii courts recognize the rights of suspects beyond what federal courts do. Acoba wrote the opinion. (Recktenwald withdrew from the case and was not involved in the decision.)

>> Jaylo v Jaylo, Sept. 27: A divorced parent can be ordered to pay educational support for offspring even after they reach age 23, the usual cutoff age for support. The court upheld a Family Court ruling that ordered Aldo Jaylo to pay support for a blind 25-year-old daughter pursuing a college education in hopes of becoming a flute teacher. Associate Justice Jim Duffy wrote the unanimous opinion.

>> HSTA V. HLRB,  Sept. 27: In a unanimous order, the high court refused to issue a writ that would have lifted the state’s imposition of a 5 percent pay reduction for public school teachers, but made clear the Hawaii State Teachers Association could strike once the Hawaii Labor Relations Board resolves the union’s prohibited-practices complaint.