Surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center show that public confidence in government generally is at an all-time low.

For the leader of the Hawaiʻi Judiciary, that distrust is alarming and unacceptable.

In his final State of the Judiciary speech Thursday at the State Capitol, Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald said promoting public trust and confidence in the courts is the Judiciary’s biggest challenge.

“We can’t just assume we have the public’s trust — we need to earn it,” he told a Senate chamber packed with top officials from the three branches of state government.

Recktenwald said the courts have made significant progress in becoming more transparent. Oral arguments before the high court are now live-streamed — more than 125 times since 2020 — because the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way government operates.

The five Supreme Court justices, through the Courts in the Community Program, have held oral arguments in school gymnasiums, including Kealakehe on the Big Island, Lahainaluna on Maui and Wai‘anae and Mililani on Oʻahu.

Those remote proceedings can be viewed online. And with electronic filing now the norm for all courts, the public can more easily access court records.

Respect and aloha

Another critical component to inspiring trust in the courts is judicial independence, Recktenwald said.

“Judicial independence means that judges are able to decide cases impartially — free from passion, pressure or outside influence,” he said. “Only then can we expect the public to have confidence and trust in our decisions.”

A little respect and aloha doesn’t hurt, either, he said. The Judiciary’s Hawaiian Language Program allows anyone who wants to communicate in ‘ōlelo Hawai’i to do so.

The biennial State of the Judiciary speech was an opportunity for the “CJ,” as he is widely known, to outline legislative priorities.

Funding is needed to design a new courthouse in Waimea on the Big Island and pay for a District Court judge in Kona, Recktenwald said. There remains “a critical shortage” of court-appointed counsel in criminal and termination-of-parental-rights cases.

His address was more than just a look ahead. It was also a recap of 15 years as Hawaiʻi’s top jurist.

That’s because Recktenwald, who turns 70 in October, must step down before then because of a mandatory retirement age for judges and justices. The U.S. Supreme Court does not have age limits. Neither does Congress or the Hawaiʻi Legislature.

Constitutional amendments have been proposed to raise the retirement age to 75 or higher, but voters have so far rejected the idea.

There is a Senate bill this session that proposes placing another constitutional amendment on the ballot, and Recktenwald told reporters after his speech that he remained hopeful the law will be changed.

“I think the age 70 retirement age is a relic of a different era,” he said. “And I think now folks are absolutely capable of being great leaders, great judges (later in life). And I think age 75 makes a lot of sense.”

There is another reason the age limit may need to change. The Judiciary has struggled to find replacements.

Justices Paula Nakayama and Mike Wilson were forced to retire in 2023. In addition to a search for Recktenwald’s replacement, there is also a vacancy for chief judge on the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

The difficulty in attracting qualified applicants has a lot to do with salary, as jobs in the private sector pay more than the courts. The state Salary Commission is expected to make recommendations to the Legislature this session on possible raises for all three branches of government.

Recktenwald, who has lobbied the salary commission for higher judicial pay, said he is optimistic that commissioners understand the concern.

“Put it this way: No one becomes a judge because they want to get rich,” he said. “They become a judge because they love the work, because they want to serve the community. But we hear over and over again when our judges go talk to folks to try to encourage them to apply, ‘Hey, I’d love to do it, but I just can’t afford it.'”

The chief justice said salaries have fallen even further behind with inflation, “because for the last six years, the judges were basically getting a 1% annual salary increase. And in real terms, they went backwards about 20%.”

An accidental justice

Recktenwald was sworn in as chief justice in 2010 and was retained for a second term in 2020. He joined the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 2009, having previously served as chief judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals beginning in 2007.

Recktenwald earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Chicago. Before serving on the ICA, he was director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Hawaii and an attorney in private practice.

Recktenwald was Republican Gov. Linda Lingle’s second choice for chief justice, after the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 14-8 against Katherine Leonard, an ICA judge, although six Democrats joined the Senate’s two Republicans in supporting her. The Hawaii State Bar Association rated Leonard as unqualified for the job.

Recktenwald told the Senate chamber Thursday that when he was growing up in Chicago, he never dreamed he’d end up being Hawaiʻi’s chief justice. He arrived in the islands in 1980 and immediately went to the Capitol to shop around his resume. Then-state Sen. Ann Kobayashi hired him as a committee clerk.

It seemed clear from the respect afforded Recktenwald on Thursday — he was bedecked with lei and asked to pose for several photos — that he had mastered the mechanics and politics of the Legislature. In his speech he credited governors, judges, legislators and even two labor union leaders for the many “firsts” that came during his tenure, such as establishment of a Veterans Court, an Environmental Court and a Women’s Court.

“Back then, only about 30% of our full-time judges were women,” Recktenwald said. “Today exactly half of our judges are women.”

Senate President Ron Kouchi praised Recktenwald for his innovation, creativity and compassion, calling him an outstanding leader.

“He will be missed,” Kouchi said.

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