Corinne Kaoru Amemiya Watanabe (born August 1, 1950) is an American judge from the state of Hawaii. Watanabe was the first female

Attorney General of Hawaii The attorney general of Hawaii () is the chief legal officer and chief law enforcement officer of Hawaii. In present-day statehood within the United States, the attorney general is appointed by the elected Governor of Hawaii, governor with the app ...

from 1985 until 1986.

Early life and education

Watanabe was born in

Wahiawa, Hawaii Wahiawā () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States, on the island of Oahu. It is in the Wahiawā District, on the plateau or "central valley" between the two volcanic mountains that ...

, on the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

. Her parents were Keiji and Setsuko (Matsumiya) Amemiya. Watanabe attended Leilehua High School in Wahiawa. Watanabe received her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

in 1971. Watanabe attended

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

and received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

(J.D.) degree in 1974.

Career

Watanabe served as deputy attorney general of Hawaii from 1974 to 1984, then as

between 1985 and 1986. One case she ruled on was ''Cobb v. State by Watanabe'', which tested the resign-to-run laws. The question was whether State Senator Steve Cobb had to resign his seat in order to run for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. The ruling was that Article II, Section 7 of the Hawaii Constitution did not apply for federal office. Cobb ran in the 1986 Special election in

Hawaii's 1st congressional district Hawaii's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The district is entirely on the island of Oahu, encompassing the urban areas of the City and County of Honolulu, a consolidated city-county that include ...

to replace

Cecil Heftel Cecil Landau Heftel (September 30, 1924 – February 4, 2010) was an American politician and businessman from Hawai'i. A Democrat, He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1986 for the First Congressional District, enc ...

, who resigned to run for governor. Watanabe came in fourth place, losing to

Neil Abercrombie Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician who served as the seventh governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. Born in Buffalo, New York, Abercrombie is a ...

. Watanabe has been a judge on the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals since May 11, 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Corinne 1950 births Living people Hawaii attorneys general Lawyers from Hawaii Hawaii state court judges University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Baylor University alumni American jurists of Japanese descent Hawaii Democrats People from Wahiawa, Hawaii Women in Hawaii politics 21st-century American women

Early life and education

Career

See also

References