Former Public Defender Shanlyn A.S. Park Elevated to Federal Judge in Hawai'i

Park is the second judicial confirmation to the Hawai'i district court this week.

The U.S. Senate today held a recorded vote to confirm one individual as an Article III federal judge. With this confirmation, 159 judges nominated by President Joe Biden have now been confirmed by the Senate. With today’s action, 121 of Biden’s judicial nominees have been approved for service on federal district courts.

In a 53-45 vote, Shanlyn A.S. Park was confirmed as a Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai’i. She is Biden’s second confirmation to the 4-person court, with no additional vacancies at this time. Once commissioned, Park will become the only Native Hawaiian to be serving as a federal judge anywhere in the country.

Park assumes the Honolulu-based seat currently held by Leslie E. Kobayashi, who previously announced the intention to take senior status in October 2024. A nominee of President Barack Obama, Kobayashi has served on this court since 2010. Park was nominated to this seat on the federal judiciary by Biden in September 2023.

From 1997 to 2017, Park served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Hawai’i. From 2017 to 2021, Park worked in the Honolulu law firms McCorrison Miller Mukai MacKinnion, LLP and Gallagher Kane Amai & Reyes. Since 2021, she has been a state court judge on the First Circuit Court on O’ahu, Hawai’i.