WAILUKU - Although the Maui Republican Party chairman said Tuesday he was concerned that the addition of federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court would push the nation's highest court to the political left, others said they would welcome the diversity that a woman of Hispanic descent would bring to the nation's highest court.
Maui GOP Chairman John Henry said he opposes President Barack Obama's nomination of Sotomayor because she would advance a liberal agenda.
"What the far left have not been able to pass legislatively - because the American people simply do not support a far-left agenda - they want to impose on the American people through the courts," Henry said. "That is why Obama has nominated Sotomayor: to push the Supreme Court further and further left, to advance that liberal agenda."
Henry said he's interested in hearing the Senate question Sotomayor at her confirmation hearings.
"Any nominee to the courts should uphold the Constitution," he said. "The Constitution is not a living, breathing document that changes with the times. A judge should not be an activist that makes law from the bench. A judge needs to be fair to the rich as well as the poor, fair to the Caucasian as well as the Latino, fair to the young as well as to the old."
At the other end of the political spectrum was Maui Democratic Party Chairman Lance Holter, who said he was proud of Obama and his nomination and thrilled that his three daughters would also have a new role model to follow.
"Every time we get a woman to break barriers, it gives our own daughters a chance to do greater things. . . . I'm positive she's (Sotomayor) going to make it through the hearings and be confirmed," he said.
Maui County Council Member Gladys Baisa said she welcomed news of the president's nomination to the high court.
"I am thrilled and delighted," Baisa said. "To have the president appoint a Hispanic woman to be a Supreme Court judge is a giant step forward for all women and a recognition of the significance of our Hispanic citizens in America."
Second Circuit Judge Joel August said he took an interest in Sotomayor's nomination.
He said she has had experience in private law practice and as a prosecutor, a trial judge and an appeals court judge.
"She has this broad experience that someone's going to be able to examine," August said.
Although the judge said he had not read Sotomayor's opinions, she apparently was reversed on only a few occasions, which he said was a good sign that "a judge has been correct on the law."
"From what I've heard, she seems eminently qualified," August said, adding that she comes from a "very interesting background."
"She's not the typical upper-middle-class white person who ends up sitting on the Supreme Court," he said. "She comes from extremely humble beginnings."
"It's all done on her own," he said.
He said Sotomayor's gender is a plus, although she's "more qualified than anybody else who's currently sitting up there."
Women represent half the general population and half of those in law schools, and August said he understands how women would see themselves "grossly under-represented" on the high court where only one female, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, sits as a justice.
Wendy Hudson, who serves as the supervising attorney for the Maui Public Defender's office, said she has confidence in Sotomayor's ability to serve fairly as a Supreme Court justice.
"I do know all the judges have to follow law," she said. "She's not going to stray from precedence. She has to follow the law."
Hudson said she was happy to hear about the nomination.
"I think it's about time for another woman. I think it shows Obama is trying to be inclusive," she said.
Cameron Center Executive Director Cesar Gaxiola looked up Sotomayor's biography on the Internet as he reacted to the historic nomination announcement.
"Just the fact that she's a Hispanic, that's great," said Gaxiola, a native of Mexico. "I'm glad to see that he (Obama) continues to promote diversity."
He pointed out: "Hispanic is not a race. It's a cultural group that has similar customs and language to Spain."
As the father of two part-Hispanic daughters, ages 11 and 14, Gaxiola said he shares stories with them about overcoming adversity and the importance of education in preparing for a career and life in general.
He said Sotomayor would be a role model for his daughters, who also happen to have Portuguese, Filipino and Chinese ancestry.
Retired Judge Boyd Mossman, a trustee with the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said he knew little about Sotomayor, but he believed that in all likelihood "she would be more open to minority interests and arguments."
And, that "probably would be better for the Native Hawaiian cause than if it were someone else," he said.
* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com. City Editor Brian Perry contributed to this story.
