Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Based on a recommendation by Chief Justice Michael Kruse, Gov. Lemanu Peleti Palepoi Sialega Mauga has nominated current District Court Pro Tempore, Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde as a district court judge with the nomination introduced in the Senate last week.

Under local law, only the Senate confirms judges to the bench and a Senate Judicial Committee confirmation hearing is set for later this week.

Kruse, in a Feb. 4th “Judicial Appointment” letter to the governor, points out that Tauiliili-Langkilde has been serving as District Court Judge Pro Tempore for the past seven years and she would fill the vacancy created after former District Court Judge Fiti A. Sunia’s appointment by the Secretary of Interior to the High court in January 2019 as an Associate Justice.

Tauiliili-Langkilde’s “appointment will ease the work load” on District Judge Elvis P. Patea, who, as an Acting Associate Justice of the High Court, continues to have an active role in the High Court presiding over pending cases originally assigned to the late Associate Justice Lyle L. Richmond.

Kruse said that Justice Sunia is “conflicted out in many of these cases owing to his previous role as a practicing attorney.”

“I have had the benefit of closely working with Ms. Tauiliili-Langkilde as my former law clerk and observing her as a practicing attorney,” the chief justice wrote to the governor. “She is very bright and diligent, and she is committed to the law.”

“From my observations of her character and temperament, I am satisfied that Ms. Tauiliili-Langkilde has the personal qualities to serve on a permanent basis as a member of the District Court bench, having ably served the District Court in her pro tempore capacity,” he said.

According to the chief justice, Tauiliili-Langkilde is an “exemplary product of our local education system” and was an ASG scholarship recipient, in which she pursued her undergraduate studies at the University of Hawaii, at Manoa, where she graduated in 1992 with distinction.

Tauiliili-Langkilde returned home in 1996 as an attorney-at-law, after obtaining her Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law and gaining admission to practice law in the courts of Hawaii.

Upon returning home, Kruse said Tauiliili-Langkilde entered government service, where she has had the benefit of an extensive and varies legal career, including a two-year term with the High Court as Law Clerk to the Justices.

“As one of our senior practitioners and member of the American Samoa Bar Association,” Tauiliili-Langkilde served various bar offices, including as President, according to the chief justice, who points out that  Tauiliili-Langkilde currently serves on the Chief Justice’s Committee on Bar Admissions.

Kruse also provided to the governor, Tauiliili-Langkilde’s resume, saying that he “unreservedly recommend her for the appointment as District Court Judge.”

Kruse’s letter and the nominee’s resume were also submitted to the Senate along with the governor’s letter of nomination of Tauiliili-Langkilde.

During her legal career in government, she has also served in the past years as legal counsel to the American Samoa TeleCommunications Authority and Election Office.

Samoa News notes that Tauiliili-Langkilde left private practice several months ago to fully dedicate her service as District Court Judge Pro Tempore, at a time when there was a spike in the number of cases there.