STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2870

                                    Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                      , 2000

                                    RE: GOV. MSG. NO. 208
                                        




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred
Governor's Message No. 208, submitting for study and
consideration the nomination of:

     MICHAEL D. WILSON, gubernatorial nominee to the Circuit
     Court of the First Circuit, for a term of Ten Years, 

begs leave to report as follows:

     Upon review of the background information submitted by the
nominee, your Committee finds that Michael D. Wilson holds a B.S.
degree from the University of Wisconsin and a J.D. degree from
Antioch School of Law.  Mr. Wilson has served as the Director of
the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and is currently
the Executive Director for the Division of Consumer Advocacy.
Mr. Wilson's professional and community activities include: the
Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies; the American
Inns of Court Barristers; Save Our Bays and Beaches; the Ad Hoc
Committee to Save the North Shore; Mount Olomana Association; the
Parents Ad Hoc Committee to Stop Violence; the Sandy Beach
Initiative Coalition; Hawaii's Thousand Friends; and Education Is
Not Forgotten.

     Testimony in support of the nominee was submitted to your
Committee by:  the Office of the Federal Public Defender; sixteen
staff members of the State Department of Commerce and Consumer
Affairs; the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; the State
Department of Human Resources Development; the State Department
of Human Services, the State Department of Land and Natural
Resources; the Public Utilities Commission; a Deputy Corporation
Counsel for the City and County of Honolulu; the Hawaii State Bar

 
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Association; Retired Justice Frank Padgett; one faculty member
from the University of Hawaii's William S. Richardson School of
Law; thirty-three members of the legal community; and four
private citizens.  All testimony unanimously supported the
nomination of Mr. Wilson by indicating he is intelligent, honest,
fair, and possesses an excellent judicial demeanor.  Further,
testifiers acknowledged that Mr. Wilson has the requisite
character, integrity, and human understanding that makes him
highly qualified to be a judge in the First Circuit Court.

     Your Committee members diligently questioned the nominee
regarding the unique qualities he will bring to the circuit
court, his thoughts on creating special classes of crimes for
offenses perpetrated on vulnerable populations, domestic
violence, dangerous drugs, and felony murder statutes.  In
addition, your Committee questioned Mr. Wilson regarding his
recommendations on how to improve victim's rights, the State's
tort laws regarding immunity from liability for counties that
administer beach parks, and how he will utilize judicial
restraint to balance his passion for policy making.  Your
Committee believes that the nominee adequately responded to the
Committee's inquiries.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee, after full consideration of the background, character,
experience, and qualifications of the nominee, has found the
nominee to be qualified for the position to which nominated and
recommends that the Senate consent to the nomination.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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