Corinne Watanabe
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Corinne Kaoru Amemiya Watanabe (born August 1, 1950) is an American judge from the state of Hawaii. Watanabe was the first female Attorney General of Hawaii from 1985 until 1986.


Early life and education

Watanabe was born in
Wahiawa, Hawaii Wahiawa ( haw, Wahiawā, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States, on the island of Oahu. It is in the Wahiawa District, on the plateau or "central valley" between the two volcanic mountains that comprise the ...
, on the island of
Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
. Her parents were Keiji and Setsuko (Matsumiya) Amemiya. Watanabe attended
Leilehua High School Leilehua High School is a public, co-educational, college preparatory high school in Wahiawa, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. It is part of the Hawaii State Department of Education, nationally recognized as a Blue Ribbon School by the United States ...
in Wahiawa. Watanabe received her bachelor’s degree from the
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa (University of Hawaii—Mānoa, UH Mānoa, Hawai'i, or simply UH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Manoa, Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. It ...
in 1971. Watanabe attended
Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...
and received a
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
(J.D.) degree in 1974.


Career

Watanabe served as deputy attorney general of Hawaii from 1974 to 1984, then as Attorney General of Hawaii between 1985 and 1986. One case she ruled on was ''Cobb v. State by Watanabe'', which tested the
resign-to-run laws A resign-to-run law is a law that requires the current holder of an office to resign from that office before they can run for another office. This is distinct from a dual mandate prohibition, where a person has to resign from their old office to ...
. The question was whether State Senator Steve Cobb had to resign his seat in order to run for the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
. The ruling was that Article II, Section 7 of the Hawaii Constitution did not apply for federal office. Cobb ran in the 1986 Special election in Hawaii's 1st congressional district to replace
Cecil Heftel Cecil Landau Heftel (September 30, 1924 – February 4, 2010), popularly known as Cec Heftel, was an American politician and businessman from Hawai'i. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1986 for the First Congre ...
, who resigned to run for governor. Watanabe came in fourth place, losing to
Neil Abercrombie Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician who served as the seventh governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Buffalo, New York, Abercrombie is a graduate of Union College and the ...
. Watanabe has been a judge on the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals since May 11, 1992.


See also

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List of female state attorneys general in the United States The following is a list of female attorneys general of states in the United States. Since 1959, there have been 34 states which have appointed or elected women as attorneys-general. Puerto Rico has had a record four women hold office as attorney ge ...
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List of Asian American jurists Research history Studies led by California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu (2017) and the Center for American Progress (2019) Full report: provided in-depth statistics into the issue. Judicial officers This is a dynamic list of Asian Americ ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Corinne 1950 births Living people Hawaii Attorneys General Hawaii lawyers Hawaii state court judges University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Baylor University alumni American jurists of Japanese descent Hawaii Democrats People from Wahiawa, Hawaii Women in Hawaii politics 21st-century American women