Sabrina McKenna

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. Early life and education McKenna was born on October 7, 1957, in Tokyo, Japan. 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. McKenna graduated from Yokota High School in Tokyo. McKenna attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where she played on the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine women's basketball team. She was one of the first beneficiaries of Title IX. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese. McKenna then earned her Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law. Legal and judicial service 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.