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"Today, we honor our very own Chief Justice, Mark Recktenwald.
The job of Chief Justice is much more than you might imagine. Aside from the duties and obligations of being a sitting jurist, listening to cases, entertaining oral arguments, reading briefs and writing important landmark decisions, the role of the chief the Chief Justice has many more obligations. He is also the head of the of one of the three co-equal branches of government, with all the employees, court houses and administrative headaches that come with that responsibility. He is required to obtain funding and work with the legislature, sometimes harder than even the most difficult litigants, and more than anything else, I think, the Chief Justice has the responsibility of establishing the credibility and respect for the judiciary and the rule of law. He pursued that by making the judiciary accessible and valued by traditional groups that had been excluded in the past.
He was sworn in as CJ in 2010. The country was a very different place. President Obama had just been elected with a democratic majority. The Affordable Care Act was passed and although the Supreme Court was the center of the battlefield on social issues but the resilience of the institutions that formed our democracy was never in question.
I looked up the CJ’s comments on his swearing in in 2010 and his first State of the Judiciary address. He expressed his dedication to increasing access to justice, protecting the independence of the judiciary, making the judiciary more diverse and inclusive, and ensuring that the delivery of justice was not a battle to go to the strong but a partnership to be done together. In those times, it seemed almost like uncontroversial platitudes. But as we look back at those reflections, his themes which have been repeated over and over during the course of his tenure and form the basis of meaningful reforms that appear almost prophetic today. An uncontroversial anthem has become a stern reminder of our oaths as lawyers and the necessity of our responding. Mark Recktenwald’s, legacy as the Chief Justice of the state for the past 15 years will be his extraordinary outreach to make the judicial system and the judiciary more accessible to our entire community. He has created specialized courts to deal with the specialized problems. He has emphasized throughout his tenure, the importance of access to justice and the independence of the judiciary.
Many of us who practice law enter the courtroom and see it as an arena. There is the opposing counsel on the other side, there is a judge who is the referee. And when those days come for some of us, when you lose the case, when you have that experience of having a devastating loss, and you reflect on it, and you ultimately look to your client and recognize that they got a fair shake. That is ultimately what the system is about. And throughout his tenure, his message to our litigants, to our clients and to us that he has been a “practical justice.”
In recent weeks, I have been working with the Governor on the Maui fire cases, and not long ago he arranged a $4 billion settlement fund within one year of the fire, something that takes decades in other places. When that resolution for our community appeared to be threatened by complicated appeals to our Supreme Court, the legal community watched in amazement as the Court was able to resolve the disputes with a decision entered only three days after the oral argument clearing the implementation of the settlement fund.
From the Chief Justice's perspective and others, the recognition that courts and the judiciary are there to be practical, to resolve the devastating tragedies that sometimes befall our citizenry, to uphold the principles upon which our democratic foundation was based, and to do so in an efficient way, is part of his underlying legacy.
Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, more than any other chief justice that I have been familiar with in my 50 years of practicing law has been on the forefront of the importance of recognizing the rule of law and ensuring that the public and the other branches of government has the same respect for the Judiciary's own independence and the availability of the processes of government. I have come to believe that despite all that occurs that results in our society being so culturally and politically divided that the courtroom remains a venue for civil discourse. Sometimes it is awkward, sometimes not very efficient, but as two opposing sides use the adversarial process, ultimately, what comes out is some level of agreed truth. They don't always get it right, but mostly they do, and the courtroom, among any institution that exists in government today seems to be the one place for that proposition to hold true.
I have reviewed so many of the public statements that Justice Recktenwald has made that reference access to justice, the independence of the judiciary, the importance of the rule of law, which, in a different context, might have appeared to be platitudes. In fact, I see those comments as a call to action for all of us who have taken the oath of office. It is a battle cry to take action to move our judiciary to preserve our democracy.
On March 25,2025, in the face of public attacks on law firms, calls to impeach judges whose decisions are questioned, and threats to suspend habeas corpus, our Supreme Court issued an opinion about diversity and inclusion and its historic recognition of the law of the splintered paddle that incorporates those ideals. The unequivocal statement issued by the unanimous court reaffirming those principles, will be viewed as part of his enduring legacy.
CJ, thank you for your years of service to our community, for making the courts more accessible to all members of our community, and for your extraordinary foresight in recognizing years ago have become so extraordinarily prophetic and wise. That is your legacy, and that is the reason we so that we honor you tonight and celebrate your tenure in office."
- Mark Davis