Selected by Gov. Linda Lingle from a list provided to her from the Judicial Selection Committee, Kim was up for First Circuit Court Judge and Recktenwald for Chief of the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

Kim and Recktenwald shouldn’t have had to be on edge, but Senate Judiciary Chair Clayton Hee made sure they were.

For three weeks prior, Hee made condescending statements about them at Senate Judiciary hearings and in the media, he threatened not to “advise and consent” on their nominations, and generally, acted like a precocious buffoon.

For the first hearing, Hee told Senate colleagues on his committee that he scheduled Glenn Kim first, for only an hour, because Kim would have no problems before the committee, whereas Hee was sure Recktenwald would have considerable trouble based on anonymous communications Hee received.

Quite the opposite was true. Hee said one hour later, Hee got negative communications about Kim instead, and nothing negative about Recktenwald that could be confirmed. Hee turned his ire on Kim, spending a full day on his nomination and scheduling a second day to hear testimony on Kim and Recktenwald. At the end of a second 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. hearing, Hee voted against Kim’s nomination in committee and continued to defame him to colleagues and the public.

It didn’t matter to Hee that these men have sterling reputations, are excellent leaders and lawyers and have lived their lives with integrity.

It didn’t matter to Hee that Recktenwald, a former journalist, was one of the few prestigious Deputy U.S. attorneys in Hawaii who went on to crack major white-collar cases, only leaving that job to become one of Gov. Linda Lingle’s 16 cabinet directors as head of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs -- a department he reformed considerably in only 5 years.

It didn’t matter to Hee that Kim, a graduate of Kalani High School, received the Bronze Star in Vietnam for bravery, graduated from the University of Hawaii at the top in his law class, and received a masters and Ph.D. from Harvard, where he later taught, and currently is the head of the domestic violence unit at the City Prosecutor’s office, a difficult job to say the least.

Randy Roth, University of Hawaii Law Professor and co-author of the Broken Trust: Greed, Mismanagement and Political Manipulation at America’s Largest Charitable Trust, who had Kim as his student, notes over the last 32 years, he has taught approximately 2,000 law students at the William S. Richardson School of Law, and nearly 1,000 students at other law schools, including Denver University, Hamline University, Washburn University, University of Wisconsin and University of Chicago. "None of these 3,000 law students has impressed me more than has Glenn Kim."

Roth said he attended Kim's hearing before the Judiciary Committee and was embarrassed by the way the Chairman treated him: "In my opinion, it is nothing short of shameful."

There is no doubt by his actions this session and in recent ones that Hee thrives off drama and doesn’t mind stepping on someone else’s hopes and dreams just for kicks. Fortunately for Kim and Recktenwald, Hee’s notorious antics would backfire.

But leading up to that, the Senate gallery was packed with supporters of Kim and Recktenwald, including Gov. Linda Lingle, her chief of staff Bob Awana, her senior policy advisor Linda Smith and her senior advisor of communications Lenny Klompus. There was state Attorney General Mark Bennett who with Honolulu City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle and a labor leader supporter, helped lobby lawmakers behind the scenes. Carlisle was surrounded by several dozen friends of Kim from the Honolulu City Prosecutors Office who took their lunch break or vacation time to come and support him.

Attorney General Mark Bennett, Glenn Kim and Gov. Linda Lingle breathe a collective sigh of relief after the grueling confirmation hearings for Kim.

Several of spectators said they were shocked when the Senate Democrats, who make up 20 of the 25 seats, went behind closed doors into a caucus before voting on either man’s nomination. They were further appalled when Senate Democrats stayed behind closed doors for not one hour, not two hours, but almost two-and-a-half hours from 11:30 a.m. to 5 minutes of 2 p.m. They had a complete disregard for the hungry crowd in the gallery who waited around with no estimate of when the Senate caucus would reconvene, and if they should run off and eat lunch, get a drink of water, or feed their parking meter.

Sources say that during that more than 2-hour, closed-door caucus, Hee made a long presentation as to why fellow Democrats should vote against Kim. The more Hee talked, the fewer Democrats sided with him and the more votes he lost. Sen. Clarence Nishihara, who while on Hee’s Judiciary committee voted against Kim at Hee’s urging, changed his vote to a “yes” for Kim. One Democrat called that change “remarkable.”

Sen. Clayton Hee objected to Glenn Kim being confirmed as a judge. Hee was overruled.

The majority of Senators just didn’t see why Hee was so passionately against Kim, even after they considered two “whistleblowers” who came forward to say they didn’t like Kim. The Democrats, who refused to side with Hee, said they didn’t have any solid examples of Kim’s alleged bad attitude and noted more than 100 testimonies in his favor, along with the unanimous endorsements of the Hawaii Bar Association, the Judicial Selection Commission and the governor. They refused to disclose their votes in caucus, despite Hee's request.

Those who did side with Hee said they’d already promised their vote to him, or wanted to appease the two “whistleblowers” who came forward.

Former Senate President Robert Bunda didn’t even bother to go into the Democrats’ caucus -- he already knew he and his faction would support Kim. Bunda worked busily at his desk and chatted briefly with the 5 Republicans who were frozen out of the Democrats’ secret discussion. All Republicans supported both Hee and Kim.

Sen. Sam Slom votes in favor of confirming Glenn Kim as a judge.

For the final vote, Recktenwald received unanimous support by all 25 Senators - Hee had abandoned an attempt to "diss" Recktenwald.

Mark Recktenwald shines in his confirmation hearings.

Instead, Hee launched into a nearly 30 minute speech on why Kim wasn’t a good choice for judge, saying repeatedly “with all due respect,” but several other Senators jumped up and passionately gave Kim their ringing endorsement.

On the final vote, Hee only received the support of 8 other Senators. Sixteen Senate members voted in favor of Kim. The gallery of supporters gave the Senate a standing ovation.

Fans in the stands (Gallery) at the state Senate give the Senators a standing ovation for confirming Glenn Kim as a judge.

It is an extremely rare occurrence in the Senate for the Senate Democrats to so strongly go against a chair’s suggestion, but some said they don’t feel close to Hee, quite the contrary, and so didn’t mind voting their conscience.

Some political junkies speculate on what this might do to Senate factions, several that split their vote for and against Kim -- or what this vote might do to Colleen Hanabusa’s power as Senate President.

As one gallery observer said, "Hawaii Politics 101: If you shoot, no miss."

But Senate Democrats say, although the vote was significant and rare, it had the “Hee factor” thrown in, and frankly, many of the Democrats are not fans of his.

But the Kim-Recktenwald nominations, which ultimately succeeded after wasted weeks, unnecessary stress, just plain meanness on Hee’s part, and a "grueling" experience, as Kim says, is just one act in a session long drama.

Several of the governor’s appointees to boards, commissions, directorships and University Board of Regents, must pass muster this session.

The next "victim" on the Senate Democrats’ list is Iwalani White, a former deputy prosecutor who is now up for reappointment as the director of the state Public Safety division.

White’s initial confirmation hearings are scheduled this week. Senate Committee Chair Wil Espero, through Senate President Hanabusa, has already issued 9 subpoenas to witnesses planning to speak against her. Senate Democrats say White’s confirmation hearings are expected to be considerably worse than that of Kim’s and Recktenwald’s, and in the end, she will not likely be reappointed.

After White’s future is determined, a whole new drama will unfold over the confirmation of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents -- the very group who this attack-political trend started over when Hee was chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee.

One thing for sure -- those in the gallery and committee hearings for Kim/Recktenwald said Friday they don’t plan on accepting any public service positions, no matter how miniscule or how great, if it will force them to get the approval of the Senate. Most believe they would never have the "judicial temperament" that Hee says candidates must - especially if they had to endure Hee's ridiculous theatrics.

VOTES AGAINST KIM

Senators Clayton Hee, Kalani English, Gary Hooser, David Ige, Russell Kokubun, Norman Sakamoto, Jill Tokuda, Shan Tsutsui and Colleen Hanabusa

VOTES FOR KIM

Senators Robert Bunda, Loraine Inouye, Roz Baker, Suzie Chun Oakland, Wil Espero, Carol Fukunaga, Les Ihara, Donna Mercado Kim, Clarence Nishihara, Ron Menor, Brian Taniguchi, Sam Slom, Fred Hemmings, Gordon Trimble, Mike Gabbard, and Paul Whalen.

Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor and president of Hawaii Reporter, can be reached via email at mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com

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