Rhoda Valentine Lewis (August 31, 1906September 12, 1991) was the first female justice on the

Supreme Court of Hawaii 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 ...

Biography

Lewis was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on August 31, 1906, to parents Charles Tobias and Josephine Lewis. She moved to

Honolulu 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 ...

and attended the

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through 12th grade. The school was established by P ...

; then moved to

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, and attended the American-European School; and graduated from the Frances Willard Jr. High School in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. She graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1927, and received her

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 ...

from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

in 1929, graduating first in her class, and becoming a member of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif () is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

. She worked for a former Stanford Professor, before working for a law firm in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. In 1937 she moved back to Hawaii, where she worked for the Honolulu Prosecutor's Office and then the Attorney General's Office. Lewis worked in the Attorney General's Office from 1940 to 1958, writing numerous opinions and memorandums. After the

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

in 1941 she drafted the Hawaii Defense Act, granting the governor emergency powers. She was later involved in ''

Duncan v. Kahanamoku ''Duncan v. Kahanamoku'', 327 U.S. 304 (1946), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court. It is often associated with the Japanese exclusion cases ('' Hirabayashi v. United States'', ''Korematsu v. United States'' and ''Ex parte Endo'') be ...

'', a case argued before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

over martial law in Hawaii. Lewis helped revise Hawaiian laws by serving on a 1944 commission. The

Governor of Hawaii The governor of Hawaii () is the head of government of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 through 6. It is a directly elected position, votes bei ...

, William Quinn appointed Lewis to the

in 1959. Lewis wrote forty three opinions, eight joint opinions, eight concurring opinions, and nine dissents while on the bench. A 1961 opinion she wrote for the court gave the family of a deceased person the right to gain some of their "projected life earnings" if it was discovered someone "negligently contributed" to their death. Lewis provided legal consultation the effort to gain Hawaii statehood, advocating on the issue in Washington, D.C. several times. Lewis left the court in 1967 and the following year was on the Hawaii Constitutional Convention of 1968. From 1971 to 1972 she worked as a reporter for the Committee on the Coordination of Rules and Statutes. Lewis died on September 12, 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Rhoda Valentine 1906 births 1991 deaths Justices of the Supreme Court of Hawaii Place of death missing 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges