| Sabrina McKenna | |
| Office: | Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii |
| Appointer: | Neil Abercrombie |
| Term Start: | March 3, 2011 |
| Predecessor: | Mark E. Recktenwald |
| Birth Date: | 7 October 1957 |
| Birth Place: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Children: | 3 |
| Education: | University of Hawaii, Manoa (BA, JD) |
Sabrina Shizue McKenna (born October 7, 1957) is an American judge from the U.S. state of Hawaii. Since March 3, 2011, she has served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii.
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. McKenna's father died when she was 9 years old.[2] McKenna graduated from Yokota High School in Tokyo.[1]
McKenna attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where she played on the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine women's basketball team.[2] She was one of the first beneficiaries of Title IX. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese.[2] McKenna then earned her Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4] 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.[4] Of the five testimonies that opposed McKenna's appointment, four did so because of her sexual orientation.[4] On February 16, 2011, the Hawaii Senate approved her nomination by a vote of 23–0.[5] She was sworn in on March 3, 2011.[6]
McKenna has three children.[1] [2] McKenna is the first openly gay judge to serve on the Hawaii Supreme Court.[1] As of 2023, she is one of twelve openly LGBT state supreme court justices serving in the United States.