Thursday, September 23, 1999

WRITER: Kathy R. Pharr, (706) 542-5172, pharr@jd.lawsch.uga.edu

FEDERAL JUDICIAL CONFIRMATION PROCESS ANALYZED IN UGA LAW SCHOOL LECTURE

ATHENS, Ga. - 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 University of Georgia School of Law's 18th annual Edith House Lecture Wednesday, October 6. Mollway's speech, "Getting Confirmed as a Federal Judge," will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the University Chapel and is open free to the public.

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. Mollway served as director of the Hawaii Women's Legal Foundation, secretary for the Hawaii Justice Foundation, member of the Hawaii Women Lawyers Association, and member of the board of directors of the Hawaii Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. She was a board member 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 her 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 (WLSA), is named for one of the first female graduates of the University of GeorgiaSchool of Law. A native of Winder, Georgia, 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," said Wanda Vance, 1st vice president of the Women Law Students Association 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."

Mollway earned bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature from the University of Hawaii, taught English literature and language at the university level, and then began the study of law. Mollway graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She is a contributing author of Called from Within: Early Women Lawyers of Hawaii.