Pollack
Abercrombie
HONOLULU (Legal Newsline) - Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Wednesday nominated Judge Richard W. Pollack to the state Supreme Court.
Pollack's nomination, which requires confirmation by the state Senate, would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice James E. Duffy Jr.
"I am confident that the core values of the constitution and Hawaii are well met in Judge Pollack," Abercrombie said in a statement.
Pollack, who has served as a circuit court judge since 2000, said he was "extremely honored" by the governor's nomination.
"It is deeply gratifying to be nominated to our state's highest court whose decisions can have such a beneficial effect on the lives of our island people," he said in a statement.
Pollack, 61, has served as a substitute justice on the Court and substitute judge on the Intermediate Court of Appeals on numerous occasions. He also is an adjunct professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's William S. Richardson School of Law, where he currently teaches law of evidence and criminal procedure.
Prior to his appointment to the circuit court, Pollack served as the state public defender from 1987 to 2000.
He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his law degree from Hastings School of Law in San Francisco.
Pollack is Abercrombie's second appointment to the state's high court. Judge Sabrina S. McKenna was sworn in as a justice in March 2011.
The Court is composed of five justices, all of which are nominated by the governor from a list of names submitted by the state's Judicial Selection Commission and then subject to confirmation by the Senate.
Each justice is initially appointed for a 10-year term.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.