Ronald T. Y. Moon (September 4, 1940 – July 4, 2022) was the Chief 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 ...

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 ...

. He served his first term from 1993 to 2003, and his second term from 2003 until retiring in August 2010. Moon studied at

Coe College Coe College is a private liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was founded in 1851 and is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The college is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and the Associat ...

towards bachelor's degrees in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. He went on to the

University of Iowa College of Law The University of Iowa College of Law is the law school of the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. It was founded in 1865. Iowa is ranked the 28th-best law school in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or U ...

, where he obtained his

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 ...

. He returned to Honolulu in 1965 and became law clerk to United States District Court Judge Martin Pence. He served under Pence for a year. In 1966, Moon joined the staff of the

Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu The Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu is one of only two countywide elected positions in the City & County of Honolulu Honolulu County (officially known as the City and County of Honolulu, formerly Oahu County) is a consolidated city–county ...

where he was deputy prosecutor until 1968. He left public service to become a partner in the law firm Libkuman, Ventura, Moon and Ayabe where he stayed until 1982. It was from the law firm that

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

George Ariyoshi George Ryoichi Ariyoshi ( ja, 有吉良一, born March 12, 1926) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the third governor of Hawaii from 1974 to 1986. A Democrat, he is Hawaii's longest-serving governor and the first American of ...

appointed Moon to the

Hawaii State Judiciary The Hawaii State Judiciary is the official name of the judicial system of Hawaii in the United States. Based in Honolulu, the Hawaii State Judiciary is a unified state court system that functions under the Chief Justice of the Hawaii State Supre ...

as a circuit court judge. Governor

John Waihee John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

then elevated Moon to the office of Associate Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court in 1990. In 1993, Moon was once again elevated to become chief justice. He retired on August 31, 2010. On May 5, 1993, Chief Justice Moon, joined by Justice Steven Levinson, ruled that the State of Hawaii must have compelling reasons to justify excluding same-sex couples from marriage in the case of ''

Baehr v. Miike ''Baehr v. Miike'' (originally ''Baehr v. Lewin'') was a lawsuit in which three same-sex couples argued that Hawaii's prohibition of same-sex marriage violated the state constitution. Initiated in 1990, as the case moved through the state courts ...

''. This decision was the first in the world that suggested same-sex couples should be granted equal marriage rights. His decision did not gain a majority, but Court of Appeals Judge James S. Burns, who was filling in for a recused Justice, wrote a concurrence agreeing with the result of Moon's opinion. Moon was of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

descent. His grandparents were among the first Korean immigrants to Hawaii.Lonesome Journey / August / 2005 / Archives – KoreAm Journal
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References

External links

"Where I'm From", HONOLULU Magazine ~ November 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon, Ronald T. Y. 1940 births 2022 deaths American jurists of Korean descent American politicians of Korean descent Asian-American people in Hawaii politics Chief Justices of the Hawaii Supreme Court Coe College alumni Hawaii state court judges University of Iowa College of Law alumni 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges

See also

References

External links