# Steven Levinson

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Steven_Levinson
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Steven_Levinson.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Levinson
> Source revision: 1325667101
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|American judge}}
{{For|the social scientist|Stephen Levinson}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name        = Steven H. Levinson
|image       = 
|office      = Justice of the<br>[Supreme Court of Hawaii](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Hawaii)
|term_start  = April 7, 1992
|term_end    = December 31, 2008
|nominator   = [John D. Waihee III](/source/John_D._Waihee_III)
|predecessor = [Frank D. Padgett](/source/Frank_D._Padgett)
|successor   = [Mark E. Recktenwald](/source/Mark_E._Recktenwald)
|birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1946|6|8}}
|birth_place = [Cincinnati, Ohio](/source/Cincinnati%2C_Ohio)
|death_date  = 
|death_place = 
|spouse      = 
|children    = 
|education   = [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University) ([BA](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts))<br>[University of Michigan Law School](/source/University_of_Michigan_Law_School) ([JD](/source/Juris_Doctor))
}}
'''Steven Henry Levinson'''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinamerica0000unse_i8t7/page/456/mode/2up|title=Who's Who in American Law, 1998-1999|year=1998|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|page=457}}</ref> (born June 8, 1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a former Associate Justice of the [Supreme Court of Hawaii](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Hawaii).  Levinson served his first term from 1992 to 2002 and was retained by the Judicial Selection Commission to serve a second ten-year term.  He retired from the court, effective December 31, 2008.

== Education ==
Upon graduating from his hometown [Walnut Hills High School](/source/Walnut_Hills_High_School), Levinson attended [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University) where he obtained his bachelor's degree in [political science](/source/political_science) in 1968.  He then went on to the [University of Michigan](/source/University_of_Michigan) where he obtained his [doctorate of jurisprudence](/source/Juris_Doctor).

== Career ==
In 1971, Levinson moved to [Honolulu, Hawaii](/source/Honolulu%2C_Hawaii) to work as a law clerk for his uncle [Bernard Levinson](/source/Bernard_Levinson_(judge)), Associate Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court.  In 1972, he joined the law firm Schutter, Levinson and O'Brien where he worked until 1976.  From 1977 to 1989, Levinson worked at the law firm Damon, Key, Bocken, Leong and Kupchak where he became an associate and then a stockholder/director.  It is from his private practice that [Governor John Waihee](/source/John_D._Waihee_III) appointed Levinson in 1989 to the [Hawaii State Judiciary](/source/Hawaii_State_Judiciary) as a circuit court judge.  Confident in his abilities, the governor elevated Levinson to the Hawaii State Supreme Court in 1992. Levinson was a member of the [American Civil Liberties Union](/source/American_Civil_Liberties_Union) while serving on the bench.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/31/issenberg-book-excerpt-bill-woods-honolulu-doma-491401|title=The Surprising Honolulu Origins of the National Fight Over Same-Sex Marriage|website=Politico|last1=Issenberg|first1=Stephen|date=May 31, 2021|accessdate=June 30, 2021}}</ref> Levinson is a member of the [Democratic Party of Hawaii](/source/Democratic_Party_of_Hawaii).{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

== ''Baehr v. Lewin'' ==
{{See also|LGBT rights in Hawaii|Same-sex marriage in Hawaii}}
In 1993, as a Hawaii State Supreme Court Justice, Levinson wrote a notable opinion in the case of ''[Baehr v. Lewin](/source/Baehr_v._Miike)'', 852 P.2d 44 (Haw. 1993), in which he ruled that the state of Hawaii needed to demonstrate a "compelling state interest" for denying marriage licenses to three same-sex couples in December 1990.  He cited Article I, Section 5 of the [Hawaii Constitution](/source/Constitution_of_Hawaii) in stating:

{{Blockquote|text=No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, nor be denied the enjoyment of the person's civil rights or be discriminated against in the exercise thereof because of race, religion, sex or ancestry.}}

Although the ruling gave a push to the [gay-rights movement](/source/gay-rights_movement), in 1998, Hawaii's residents voted in favor of amending the state's constitution to allow the legislature "the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://law-library.rutgers.edu/SSM.html |title=Same Sex Marriage: A Selective Bibliography |access-date=2012-04-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424141558/http://law-library.rutgers.edu/SSM.html |archive-date=2012-04-24 }}</ref>

==Post-judicial life==
Levinson is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Hawaii United for Marriage, a coalition advocating for the legalization of [same-sex marriage](/source/same-sex_marriage) in the state.<ref name="www.freedomtomarry.org/blog/entry/justice-levinson-reflects-on-why-marriage-matters-20-years-after-historic-HI-ruling">{{cite web|last1=Polaski|first1=Adam|title=Justice Levinson Reflects on Why Marriage Matters 20 Years After Historic HI Ruling|url=http://www.freedomtomarry.org|accessdate=April 24, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://hawaiiunitedformarriage.org/the-votes-are-there-urge-governor-abercrombie-to-call-a-special-session/ |title = Hawaii United for Marriage – United}}</ref>  He has been a member of the board of directors of the [ACLU of Hawaii](/source/ACLU_of_Hawaii) since 2009.  Levinson served on the board of directors of [Equality Hawaii](/source/Equality_Hawaii) from 2010 through 2013.  He has been performing same-sex marriages in Hawaii since December 2, 2013, the effective date of Hawaii's Marriage Equality Bill. In October 2016, Levinson was appointed to be a member of the Honolulu Police Commission by Mayor Kirk Caldwell.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.civilbeat.org/2016/10/ex-supreme-court-justice-picked-for-honolulu-police-commission/?mc_cid=f2281943e6&mc_eid=a065b36eba|title=Ex-Supreme Court Justice Picked For Honolulu Police Commission|date=17 October 2016|website=civilbeat.org|accessdate=14 September 2017}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.danpinello.com/Baehr.htm ''Baehr v. Lewin'']
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levinson, Steven H.}}
Category:1946 births
Category:Living people
Category:Lawyers from Cincinnati
Category:Hawaii state court judges
Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Hawaii
Category:Stanford University alumni
Category:University of Michigan Law School alumni
Category:20th-century American judges
Category:Walnut Hills High School alumni

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Steven Levinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Levinson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Levinson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.