The nomination of Doug Chin to be state attorney general sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday.
Chin, 48, was Honolulu managing director under former Mayor Peter Carlisle and before that was Carlisle’s first deputy in the Honolulu prosecutor’s office.
The nomination, which is expected to be taken up by the full Senate on Tuesday or Wednesday, was endorsed by a room full of supporters at the Judiciary Committee hearing. Intelligent, ethical, fair and compassionate were among the adjectives used most often by supporters to describe Chin.
Adrianna Ramelli, executive director of the Sex Abuse Treatment Center at the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, said Chin served as pro bono legal counsel for the program after he left the city’s employment in 2013.
"He’s bright, he’s compassionate and, most of all, he understands victim sensitivity," Ramelli said.
Ivan Lui-Kwan, a private attorney and onetime city budget director, said Gov. David Ige’s nominee possesses "the heart and spirit of a public servant. He wants to … improve the quality of life for the people of the state of Hawaii."
Among others appearing on Chin’s behalf were Carlisle, state Public Defender John Tonaki and former attorneys general David Louie, Mark Bennett, Robert Marks and Ron Amemiya.
While well over 100 people submitted written testimony supporting Chin’s nomination, two people opposed the selection. They noted that Chin, as a partner in the Honolulu law firm Carlsmith Ball, lobbied on behalf of Corrections Corporation of America, a private company that receives millions of dollars annually from the state to house Hawaii inmates in Arizona.
Private citizen Karen Chun said she is concerned that Chin will seek to influence future decisions involving the company.
Under questioning by Judiciary Committee members, Chin said he would recuse himself from any dealings involving the corrections firm or any other former client, as is required under the Rules of Professional Conduct that all Hawaii attorneys must follow. The public can report any potential violations to the state Judiciary’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel, a panel of peers that could levy penalties as severe as disbarment.
Chin said the business terms involving the corrections company’s contract with the state are negotiated by the Department of Public Safety and that the only role of the attorney general’s office is to review the contract for form and legality.
Bennett, who served eight years under former Gov. Linda Lingle, said it is "nothing out of the ordinary" that Chin was affiliated with a company that had done business with the state. "It is near impossible for me to conceive any attorney in private practice being considered for the office of attorney general without having in their normal workloads cases or individuals who could, while they were attorney general, come before the department," Bennett said.
