James Earl Duffy Jr. (born June 4, 1942) is a retired

associate justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

of the

Hawaii State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Hawaii is the highest court of the State of Hawaii in the United States. Its decisions are binding on all other courts of the Hawaii State Judiciary. The principal purpose of the Supreme Court is to review the decisions o ...

. He served on the court from 2003 to 2013. He also is a former federal judicial nominee to the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

Early life and education

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Duffy graduated from

Cretin High School Cretin-Derham Hall High School (CDH) is a private, co-educational Catholic high school in Saint Paul, Minnesota operated by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. It is co-sponsored by the Brothers of the Christian Schools and the Sister ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

, Duffy earned a bachelor's degree from the

College of St. Thomas The University of St. Thomas (also known as UST or simply St. Thomas) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university with campuses in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Fo ...

in 1965. He then went on to

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

to obtain his doctorate of jurisprudence in 1968.

Professional career

Duffy began his legal career in 1968 at the law firm Cobb & Gould where he became an associate. He joined the law firm Chuck & Fujiyama in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

as an associate. In 1975, Duffy became a senior partner and the firm was renamed Fujiyama, Duffy & Fujiyama. Duffy retired from Fujiyama, Duffy & Fujiyama in 2000 and worked as a mediator from 2000 until his appointment to the

in 2003.

Unsuccessful nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

On June 17, 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Duffy to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to replace Judge

Cynthia Holcomb Hall Cynthia Holcomb Hall (February 19, 1929 – February 26, 2011) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central Di ...

, who had taken senior status on August 31, 1997. Although Duffy had the support of both of Hawaii's U.S. senators at the time, his nomination languished in the Republican-led Senate, which declined to hold a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing or vote on his nomination. In a quixotic move, Clinton renominated Duffy and several other appeals-court nominees on January 3, 2001. President George W. Bush on March 20, 2001, withdrew Duffy's nomination, along with those of 62 other executive and judicial nominees, choosing not to renominate Duffy. Later in 2001, Bush nominated

Richard R. Clifton Richard Randall Clifton (born November 13, 1950) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Education and legal training Clifton received an Artium Baccalaureus degree at Princeton Univ ...

of Hawaii for the seat to which Duffy had been nominated, and Clifton was confirmed in a 98–0 vote of the U.S. Senate on July 30, 2002.

Nomination to and service on the Hawaii State Supreme Court

In 2003, Hawaii Governor

Linda Lingle Linda Lingle (; June 4, 1953) is an American politician who served as the sixth governor of Hawaii from 2002 to 2010. She was the first Republican elected governor of Hawaii since 1959, and was the state's first female and first Jewish govern ...

appointed Duffy from his private practice to the five-member Hawaii State Supreme Court. Though appointed by a governor from the

Hawaii Republican Party The Hawaii Republican Party (HRP; ) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (GOP) in Hawaii, headquartered in Honolulu. The party was strong during Hawaii's territorial days, but following the Hawaii Democratic Revolution of 1954 the Democrat ...

, Duffy is a member of the

Hawaii Democratic Party The Democratic Party of Hawaii (DPH; ) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the state of Hawaii. It is currently the dominant party in the state, and is one of the strongest affiliates of the national D ...

.Selection panel limits judgeship picks , starbulletin.com , News , /2008/03/09/
/ref> "Hawaii has been very good to me, both personally and professionally, and this is my opportunity to pay back some of the good things that have been done for me in the practice of law and personally," Duffy said at a news conference while standing next to Lingle, according to an April 15, 2003 Associated Press article.

References

External links