Hirono, Schatz Vote to Confirm Micah Smith to Serve on U.S. District Court for Hawaii

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) released the following statement after voting to confirm Micah Smith to serve as a federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. Smith was among those recommended to President Biden by Senators Hirono and Schatz, and a merit-based Federal Judicial Selection Commission, and was confirmed by a bipartisan vote of 57-41.

“Throughout his career, Micah Smith has proven to be a fair and impartial jurist, and it’s the reason he was confirmed with broad bipartisan support. He has the legal acumen as well as the character and temperament to serve on the federal bench. We were proud to support his nomination and look forward to him serving Hawai‘i and the nation with integrity.”

A graduate of Kauai High School, Micah W. J. Smith has served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii since 2018. He is currently Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and Criminal Civil Rights Coordinator in that office. He has also been the office’s Chief of Appeals and Legal Strategy since 2022. Previously, Smith served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York from 2012 to 2018. From 2008 to 2012, he was an associate and counsel at O’Melveny & Myers L.L.P. in Washington, D.C. Smith served as a law clerk for Justice David H. Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court from 2007 to 2008 and Judge Guido Calabresi on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2006 to 2007. Smith received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2006 and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania in 2003.

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