Photo of The Hon. Steven H. LevinsonThe Hon. Steven H. Levinson
Board Member
Retired Justice Levinson's 40 years of legal experience include a one-year clerkship with the Hawaii Supreme Court, 17 years in private practice, three years as a circuit court judge (Criminal Division) of the Hawaii First Circuit Court and 17 years as an Associate Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, from which he retired at the end of 2008.

During his tenure on the Supreme Court, he authored 271 published opinions, of which 231 were published opinions of the court, including Baehr v. Lewin (1993), which was the first appellate decision in American history to hold that a state's marriage laws were presumptively unconstitutional for discriminatorily prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying.

He authored numerous opinions addressing the lawful limits of governmental intrusion into the private affairs of individuals, the legitimacy of police interrogations and searches and seizures, and other related subjects.

He was the Court's liaison to the State Bar Association and the Hawaii Justice Foundation and served as chair and member of various commissions and task forces pertaining to the Hawaii Penal Code, the Code of Judicial Conduct, drug policy and jury innovations.

He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Temple Emanu-El for ten years and has been actively involved in Hawaii's Speech League and the Center for Civic Education's "We The People" program. He received the 2006 Allies for Justice Award from American Bar Association's Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities and the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association and the 2010 Champions of Justice Award from the Hawaii State Bar Association.

He is presently a board member of the ACLU of Hawaii and serves on its litigation and legislation committees.

Close Window