Sabrina McKenna

McKenna was born on October 7, 1957, in Tokyo, Japan.[1] Her father was a professor from the Midwestern United States and her mother was a Japanese national.[2] McKenna's father died when she was 9 years old.[3] McKenna graduated from Yokota High School in Tokyo.[1]

McKenna attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she played on the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine women's basketball team.[3] She was one of the first beneficiaries of Title IX. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese.[3] McKenna then earned her Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law.[3]

McKenna was an associate at Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel until 1987, then served as general counsel to Otaka, Inc. until 1990. She became an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii Law School before being appointed a District Court judge on November 30, 1993. She was elevated to the Circuit Courts on June 29, 1995.[4]

McKenna was one of three candidates recommended to President Barack Obama by Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka to fill a judicial vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.[1] McKenna did not receive the nomination, which went to Leslie E. Kobayashi in April 2010.[1]

On January 25, 2011, Governor Neil Abercrombie nominated McKenna to a seat on the Hawaii Supreme Court.[1] The Hawaii Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on her nomination on February 4 and advanced her nomination to the full Senate by a vote of 5–0.[5] Over one hundred pieces of testimony were submitted to the Judiciary Committee with respect to her nomination, the vast majority of which were supportive of McKenna.[5] Of the five testimonies that opposed McKenna's appointment, four did so because of her sexual orientation.[5] On February 16, 2011, the Hawaii Senate approved her nomination by a vote of 23–0.[6] She was sworn in on March 3, 2011.[7]

McKenna has three children.[1][3] McKenna is the first openly gay judge to serve on the Hawaii Supreme Court.[1] She is one of ten openly LGBT state supreme court justices currently serving in the United States.