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By Kathy R. Pharr
U.S. District Court Judge Susan Oki Mollway of Hawaii, the first Japanese-American woman  appointed to the federal bench, will discuss the judicial confirmation process in the School of Law’s 18th annual Edith House Lecture Oct. 6.
Mollway’s speech, “Getting Confirmed as a Federal Judge,” will be delivered at 3:30 p.m. in the Chapel and is open free to the public.
Judge Mollway, named Outstanding Woman Lawyer of the Year by the Hawaii Women Lawyers Association in 1987, was previously a successful litigator with a Honolulu law firm. She argued cases at all levels of state and federal courts, including a successful case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
She served as director of the Hawaii Women’s Legal Foundation and secretary for the Hawaii Justice Foundation, and was a member of the Hawaii Women Lawyers Association.
She was a member of the board of directors of the Hawaii Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union when the issue of same-sex marriage went before the Hawaii Supreme Court. The ACLU supported the issue, and the court eventually ruled in favor of gay and lesbian marriages on the grounds of equal protection.
President Clinton nominated Mollway for the federal bench in 1995, but the Senate confirmation process was fraught with delays, and she did not assume the post until 1998.
The Edith House Lecture Series, hosted annually by the Women Law Students Association, is named for one of the first female graduates of the UGA law school. A native of Winder, House was co-valedictorian of the law class of 1925, the first class to graduate women.
She practiced law for 38 years and became assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida and acting U.S. attorney for the district.
“Judge Mollway has dedicated her career to civil rights and women’s issues, and her experience is very relevant to female law students,” says Wanda Vance, first vice president of the WLSA and lecture organizer.
“She presents her message in a way that is very personable, warm and down-to-earth. Her lecture will be interesting and engaging for the law school community and laypeople alike.”
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