Nakasone emphasizes backlog reduction, seeks confirmation as chief judge of Hawaii intermediate court of appeals

Judge Karen Nakasone, the governor’s nominee for chief judge of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA), told the Senate Committee on Judiciary on April 22 that she would build on pilot reforms that dramatically reduced the court’s backlog and push to shorten the time litigants wait for appellate decisions.

Nakasone, who has served as an associate judge on the ICA and as a circuit court judge, said the court began a set of pilot reforms in February 2024 after the court lost its chief judge and staff attorneys. “From February 2024, when we started our pilot reforms to the current time…it has gradually dropped steadily and as of last month's statistics we were at 48,” Nakasone said, describing a decline from roughly 270 appeals more than two years old to about 48.

Why it matters: the ICA is Hawaii’s high-volume appeals court and long case delays affect litigants’ ability to obtain timely relief. Nakasone told senators the chief judge must keep “laser focus on timely disposition of appeals” while maintaining accuracy and transparency.

Nakasone described two core elements of the pilot reforms: prioritizing the oldest and statutory-priority appeals and asking judges and experienced staff attorneys to produce shorter, focused dispositions without sacrificing clarity. She said the ICA’s full team, when at authorized strength, would be seven judges and approximately 36 total staff across chambers and staff-attorney ranks; at the time of her testimony the court was operating with six judges and a six-person staff-attorney team.

“We try to write shorter,” Nakasone told the committee, adding that the court uses staff attorneys to help with difficult appeals and coordinates closely so every judge knows the number of oldest appeals remaining. On timing, she said a reasonable milestone for the court is “two years and under” and expressed a longer-term aspiration to cut average disposition times toward one year, if staffing and stability improve.

Committee members asked detailed follow-ups about causes of delay and remedies. Senator San Buenaventura pressed for urgency in child-custody and in-custody criminal appeals; Nakasone said custody and in-custody matters are already treated as statutory priorities and “we get those out fast.” She and other witnesses noted transcript-production delays and court-reporter shortages as practical bottlenecks.

Members and outside witnesses emphasized recruitment and compensation as constraints. Nakasone and others said recent salary adjustments for judges would aid recruitment from the private sector and that physical space and building maintenance (including repeated leaks and a needed roof replacement) had imposed additional burdens on court administration.

Supporters who testified included John Ichinaga and Haley Chung of the Office of the Public Defender, retired judges and civic leaders, and the Hawaii State Bar Association, whose submitted survey the HSBA president said showed broad support. Speakers highlighted Nakasone’s decades of public-service experience, including 15 years with the public defender’s office and nine years as a trial judge, and praised her leadership in proposing and implementing the ICA pilot reforms.

No confirmation vote was taken at the hearing. Chair Rhodes announced votes on nominees would be held on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. and that the committee would reconvene if there were technical failures on Zoom.

Nakasone closed by stressing collaborative leadership and experience managing high-volume dockets. “If I'm confirmed chief judge, I am excited and inspired by what we have done so far. I intend to continue that effort to further reduce the backlog so that litigants and parties do not have to wait an inordinate length of time,” she told the committee.

The committee’s formal vote on the nomination was scheduled for April 24; no final action was taken at the April 22 hearing.