Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Page 2
Bush Nominee for Judgeship in Hawaii Withdraws; Letter Cites Inability to Obtain Hearing
By a MetNews Staff Writer
President Bush’s nomination of Frederick W. Rohlfing III to be a U.S. district judge for the District of Hawaii has been withdrawn at the nominee’s request.
The president notified the Senate Thursday that he was pulling the nomination. The White House gave no explanation, but Rohlfing last week released to the media in his home state a copy of a letter to the president in which he said that his inability to obtain a confirmation hearing made it pointless for him to proceed further.
Rohlfing received a unanimous rating of “not qualified” from the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. While the committee does not publicly disclose reasons for negative ratings unless asked to do so at a confirmation hearing, a Honolulu Star-Bulletin editorial said “his legal knowledge and breadth of experience are not widely known in the community,” and that he was better known as the producer of the now-defunct Aloha Bowl and Oahu Bowl football games.
Rohlfing has been an attorney in the state for more than 20 years, and was counsel to Republican members of the state House of Representatives in the 1985 legislative session and to Republican state senators in 1995.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company