James E. Duffy Jr. (born June 4, 1942) is a retired associate justice of the

Hawaii State Supreme Court 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 of ...

. He served on the court from 2003 to 2013. He also is a former federal judicial nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Early life and education

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Duffy graduated from

Cretin High School Cretin-Derham Hall High School (CDH) is a private, co-educational Catholic high school in Saint Paul, Minnesota operated by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. It is co-sponsored by the Brothers of the Christian Schools and the Sis ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

, Duffy earned a bachelor's degree from the

College of St. Thomas A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a University system, constituent part of one. A college may be a academic degree, degree-awarding Tertiary education, tertiary educational institution, a part of a coll ...

in 1965. He then went on to

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

to obtain his doctorate of jurisprudence in 1968.

Professional career

Duffy began his legal career in 1968 at the law firm Cobb & Gould where he became an associate. He joined the law firm Chuck & Fujiyama in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

as an associate. In 1975, Duffy became a senior partner and the firm was renamed Fujiyama, Duffy & Fujiyama. Duffy retired from Fujiyama, Duffy & Fujiyama in 2000 and worked as a mediator from 2000 until his appointment to the

in 2003.

Unsuccessful nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

On June 17, 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Duffy to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to replace Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall, who had taken senior status on August 31, 1997. Although Duffy had the support of both of Hawaii's U.S. senators at the time, his nomination languished in the Republican-led Senate, which declined to hold a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing or vote on his nomination. In a quixotic move, Clinton renominated Duffy and several other appeals-court nominees on January 3, 2001. President George W. Bush on March 20, 2001, withdrew Duffy's nomination, along with those of 62 other executive and judicial nominees, choosing not to renominate Duffy. Later in 2001, Bush nominated Richard R. Clifton of Hawaii for the seat to which Duffy had been nominated, and Clifton was confirmed in a 98–0 vote of the U.S. Senate on July 30, 2002.

Nomination to and service on the Hawaii State Supreme Court

In 2003, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle appointed Duffy from his private practice to the five-member Hawaii State Supreme Court. Though appointed by a governor from the Hawaii Republican Party, Duffy is a member of the

Hawaii Democratic Party The Democratic Party of Hawaii ( haw, ʻAoʻao Demokalaka o Hawaiʻi) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention b ...

.Selection panel limits judgeship picks , starbulletin.com , News , /2008/03/09/
/ref> "Hawaii has been very good to me, both personally and professionally, and this is my opportunity to pay back some of the good things that have been done for me in the practice of law and personally," Duffy said at a news conference while standing next to Lingle, according to an April 15, 2003 Associated Press article.

References

External links