Susan Oki Mollway

Susan Naomi Oki Mollway ( Oki; born November 6, 1950) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and the first woman of East Asian descent and Japanese-American woman ever appointed to a life-time position on the federal bench.

Early life and education Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mollway earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from the University of Hawaiʻi in 1971 and a Master of Arts degree in English literature from the University of Hawaiʻi in 1973.

Before pursuing law, she taught both English literature and language at University of Hawaii and Takushoku University in Tokyo from 1973 to 1976. She graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School with a Juris Doctor in 1981, In 2020, Mollway received her Master of Laws in judicial studies from Duke University School of Law.

Personal She married Daniel Mollway and they had a son named Dylan Marcus.

Professional career Mollway taught English and worked at an English-language publisher in Tokyo from 1975 to 1977. From 1981 until 1989, she worked at Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, a private legal practice, in Honolulu and became a partner for the law firm in 1986. From 1988 to 1989, she was an adjunct professor of law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the William S. Richardson School of Law. The case was brought to the State Court as a violation of public policy expressed in federal statues, but it was later dismissed under the Railway Labor Act. However, the State Supreme Court reversed this claim in a unanimous decision.

Publications Mollway is the author of The First Fifteen: How Asian Women Became Federal Judges (Rutgers University Press 2021) which details the stories of the first fifteen Asian American women judges to be appointed to lifetime federal, judicial positions in autobiographical and biographical styles.

She is also a contributing author towards the biography collection Called from Within: Early Women Lawyers of Hawai'i (1992) which tells the early stories of the women lawyers admitted to Hawaii's bar before its statehood.

Associations Mollway is a current member and director of multiple professional associations including:

Hawaii Women Lawyer's Association Hawaii Women's Legal Foundation Federal Judges Association District Judges Association Hawai’i’ American Civil Liberties Union Board Hawaii State Bar American Judicature Society Judicial Conference Committee on Audits and Administrative Office Accountability

Federal judicial service

Path to the bench Mollway never perceived herself as disadvantaged due to Hawaii's multicultural environment. However, she only learned that she was the first Asian-American women to serve as an Article III federal judge after her nomination to the federal bench in 1998. Following the announcement of her nomination, she received considerable scrutiny for her position on Hawai'i's American Civil Liberties Union Board, which openly and strongly supported the legalization of same-sex marriage, despite having never voted on a position the ACLU should take.

The difficulty of Mollway's confirmation process affected her private practice due to the pending nature of her nomination which made the number of clients willing to hire her shrink. In 1996, the United States Senate lapsed her nomination. She wasn't renominated to the same seat until January 7, 1997.

The Senate confirmed Mollway on June 22, 1998 by a 56–34 vote, and she received her commission on June 23, 1998. She served as chief judge from 2009 to 2015. She assumed senior status on November 6, 2015. As of December 2025, Mollway appears to be inactive.

Mollway served on the Ninth Circuit Pacific Islands Committee and the Ninth Circuit Conference Executive Committee. Mollway was the chairperson of the 9th Circuit Jury Instructions Committee. Mollway helped to oversee the $121-million renovation of the federal district court facilities in Honolulu and worked on creating a Re-Entry program in the United States District Court, District of Hawaii.

Notable cases

United States v. Lee In 2006, Mollway was the presiding judge over United States v. Lee, the largest trafficking prosecution case. The case was a result of a 22 count indictment against five defendants. They were charged for trafficking and subjecting workers in Samoa to involuntary servitude.USA V LEE, No. 05-10478 (9th Cir. 2006)

Day v Apoliona In 2007, Mollway reinstated a previously dismissed lawsuit against the Office of Hawaiian Affairs by native Hawaiians. Six plaintiffs without native Hawaiian ancestry but high blood quantum filed a motion to intervene, aiming to safeguard the rights of a million Hawaiian residents to share in the ceded lands trust. As consequence, she received a motion from an attorney who wanted to bring a motion that that law clerk could not work on the case on the basis of prejudice. The court ruled that limiting OHA elections solely to Hawaiian voters based on race was unconstitutional.

County of Maui v Hawaii Wildlife Fund In 2014, Mollway ruled in favor of environmental groups when they sued the County of Maui for discharging groundwater pollution without a permit. The Supreme Court addressed the decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund.

Conservation Council for Hawaii lawsuit In 2015, Mollway again ruled in favor of environmentalists who accused the Navy of threatening marine mammals due to their use of sonar and explosives during training off Southern California and Hawaii. Mollway ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service violated environmental laws.

Awards Throughout her career, Mollway has received a number of awards.

In 1987, the Hawaii Women Lawyers Association, a non-profit organization incorporated in 1982, awarded her the Outstanding Woman Lawyer of the Year Award and the Outstanding Judicial Achievement Award later in 2004. The organization is committed to improving the lives and careers of women attorneys and advancing their legal professions and promoting equal opportunity.

In 1999, the University of Georgia School of Law invited Mollway to become an Edith House Lecturer. The Edith House Law Lecture Series aims to support the Women Law Students' Association at the University of Georgia School of Law by bringing forth women pioneers who have made significant advancements in the legal profession. Mollway discussed and analyzed her federal judicial confirmation process as a Japanese-American woman.

In 2000, the Harvard Asian American Intercollegiate Conference awarded Mollway the Heroes 2000 award.

In 2005, the Asian American Justice Center awarded her the Distinguished Service Award.