Supreme Court justice first to have been public defender

The newest member of the Hawaii Supreme Court was sworn in Monday, becoming the first person who served in the public defender’s office to sit on the state’s high court.

Richard Pollack is the first head of the office or deputy public defender to be named to either the high court or Hawaii’s appeals court.

“I am honored to be the first person of public defender background to be chosen to serve on our appellate courts,” he said to the ringing applause of the gathering at the Supreme Court’s courtroom.

Pollack, 62, was head of the public defender’s office for 13 years until he was appointed in 2000 as a circuit judge, a position he held for 12 years.

He was sworn in by Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald for a 10-year term. But under the state Constitution’s mandatory retirement provision, Pollack would have to leave the job in 2020, two years before the end of his term when he turns 70.

Pollack is Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s second appointment to the five-member high court. The state Senate unanimously approved the appointment in June.

Abercrombie named Sabrina McKenna to the high court last year.

Pollack has earned praised as a “judge’s judge,” a consummate student of the law and a scholarly advocate for justice.

In his first remarks as an associate justice, Pollack recalled that as a young lawyer, he was warned that one judge had a reputation for thoroughly reading all legal briefs and the court cases cited in those papers.

The judge expected the lawyers to be just as well prepared, Pollack was told.

After leaving the courtroom, he thought, “If I ever became a judge, that’s how I would be.”

Pollack was referring to Simeon Acoba, the associate justice now sitting next to him on the high court.

“To be able to serve with Justice Acoba is an incredible honor to me,” Pollack said.

Abercrombie, who called an appointment to the high court as “the single most important thing any governor does,” spoke about the reasons he picked Pollack for the position that pays $151,118 a year and talked about the importance of judicial temperament.

“I knew almost instantly he exemplified in his character the elements that I don’t just admire, but find as a guiding principle,” he said.

Ronette Kawakami, the Hawaii State Bar Association secretary and a deputy public defender who has known Pollack for years, said a word that sums up the man is “principled.”

“You know Richard will always do the right thing,” she said.

Recktenwald noted Pollack’s service as the public defender and called him a man of “great integrity, intelligence and dedication.”

“He’s dedicated himself in serving the community in seeking justice for all,” Recktenwald said.