Voting Rights: Hawaii Moves to Top of Enforcement List?
Truth in Accounting: Hawaii worst place in country to do business
EFF Sues FBI For Access to Hawaii Facial-Recognition Records
Full Text: DoD ‘Briefing Card’ on Same Sex Benefits
Rep. Ward seeks assurance that public data will be protected under SB1003
Snakes in the Budget: Bite Estimated at $300M
Study: Most of Hawaii's commercial seafood is imported
Can the Median Household afford the Median Home on Oahu?
Auditor: Continued state regulation of amateur boxing is unnecessary
State Senate Shakes Up Committee Structure
Nevada, Hawaii marriage cases Will Give Supreme Court Opportunity to Mandate Nationwide Gay Marriage
EOT: Both challenges reached the Ninth Circuit through appeals after the plaintiffs, same-sex couples, faced losses in their respective district courts. The plaintiffs in both cases undoubtedly had Article III standing to bring their lawsuits, and having lost, they have standing to appeal. And importantly, in the Nevada case, the governor is the defendant and he is defending the law (the Coalition is doing so as well) and in Hawaii, while the governor is one named defendant and he agrees their anti-gay marriage regime is unconstitutional under the federal Constitution, the Director of Hawaii’s Department of Public Health, believes it’s constitutional and has fully defended it in federal court. Presumably, if the plaintiffs win at the Ninth Circuit in both cases, the losing parties would be able to ask the Supreme Court to review the case, even with Perry as precedent.
The current stay, issued by the Ninth Circuit, expires on July 18 automatically. From there, the initial briefing schedule was as follows: opening briefs were due August 19; then, the defendants and intervenors would file their briefs on September 18; after that, any reply briefs would be due October 2. However, inJackson v. Abercrombie the Hawaii plaintiffs and the governor asked for an extension of time to file opening briefs; with a proposed due date of September 18, a month later than the current schedule allows. The court granted the request. InSevcik, the Nevada case, the same date of September 18 has been requested. Since the Ninth Circuit granted the request in Jackson, they’ll likely do the same in the Nevada challenge. This would mean briefing may be completed by late October, instead of in early October, as originally anticipated.
The next Supreme Court term begins in early October, and ends in June, so depending on how quickly a decision is announced after oral arguments, and assuming there are no setbacks or delays, there is at least a possibility it could reach the Supreme Court by early 2014. Of course, there’s no way to know whether they would take up another marriage case so quickly, even one styled as Nevada’s is, narrow and geared toward a state with a unique factual background in terms of LGBT laws. But these and other cases will continue along, and the stays issued prior to the Supreme Court’s decisions will be lifted in several federal cases over the next weeks.
read ... Stay issued by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Nevada, Hawaii marriage cases to expire July 18
Gay Marriage: Abercrombie Prefers Litigation to Legislation
Borreca: it is somewhat curious how Gov. Neil Abercrombie, one of Hawaii's most passionate supporters of same-sex marriage, was rhetorically flat-footed in his reaction to the Supreme Court ruling.
"I believe my position to support a constitutional right to same-sex marriage in Hawaii and elsewhere was given a substantial boost by today's Supreme Court rulings. I will continue to work to assure justice and equality for all," he said in a statement and didn't go any further in a press interview.
Abercrombie seemed more concerned about the state's lawsuit now pending before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. That is a case that could take one or two more years to move for another possible decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hawaii could move now to pass a new law deleting the phrase restricting marriage to between a man and woman.
Democratic legislators had the votes to expediently pass the civil unions bills and give Abercrombie one of his first legislative victories. Why then, with the Supreme Court already doing the heavy lifting, are lawmakers and the governor reluctant to take that step?
read ... Gov and state’s tepid stand on same-sex marriage odd
Slom: Republicans Need Contested Primaries
CB: While it is easy to think that Republicans might relish possible turmoil among Democrats, state Sen. Sam Slom— the only Republican in the Senate — made a little joke to say that’s not the case.
“I take my relish on a Costco hot dog,” Slom said. “The Democrats have a long history of running good candidates against each other and giving their voters a choice, and I think that’s to be commended.”
He wishes the Republican Party would do the same.
read ... Contested Primaries
Feds Commit Another $250M for Honolulu Rail
SA: Honolulu’s rail project will receive its full federal funding share of $250 million for 2014, under a deal reached today by the House and Senate Appropriations Committee.
The agreement came the same day the Senate approved former Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx as the nation’s new Transportation Secretary, replacing outgoing secretary Ray LaHood.
In statements to Hawaii lawmakers, Foxx has pledged to work to complete the rail project.
read ... Rail
Scared Progressives Try to Jawbone Hanabusa out of Primary
ILind: The lefty “Down with Tyranny” blog suggested this week that Colleen Hanabusa’s primary challenge to Senator Brian Schatz may sputtering and could be abandoned (“Hanabusa at a Crossroads– Will It Lead Back to Congress?“). Citing vague “rumors” among unnamed insiders, the blog speculates that “going back to the U.S. House may be Hanabusa’s best political move.”
(The purpose of this talk is to depress Hanabusa fundraising in advance of the June 30 reporting deadline.)
read ... Critics question Hanabusa’s staying power in Senate primary
Hawaii Lawmakers Awarded $12,000 Pay Hike
HR: Currently, Hawaii legislators receive $46,273 per year for their part-time position at the legislature. But that is about to increase by $10,000.
As of July 1, legislators’ salaries will rise to $55,896. On January 1, 2014, lawmakers will receive another $2,000 pay hike.
With the pay increase, their office allowance also automatically increases from $10,000 to about $12,000
read ... $12,000
Ethics: Will Contractors Be Allowed to Buy Dinner for 100s of State Employees?
ILind: ...the commission is now poised to clarify its guidelines on gifts to public officials and employees, with new restrictions likely to be announced within the next several months. That was the general consensus following a discussion during yesterday’s regular monthly commission meeting of “thank you” gifts from companies doing business with state agencies.
It isn’t uncommon for vendors and contractors to offer agency-wide “thank you” gifts to employees in state offices, according to Les Kondo, the commission’s executive director. Companies sometimes offer to deliver pizza, hot dogs, manapua or pastries for up to several hundred employees, Kondo said. In one case, a company gave a single rose to each of the women working in a particular state office that it did business with.
Kondo said these types of gifts can put pressure on other current or prospective contractors and vendors, leading to situations in which competing businesses also get into competitive gifting, each trying to outdo the other in shows of appreciation to agency staff.
Kondo said the commission gets an inquiry every couple of months from employees or administrators asking whether such gifts can be accepted. In other cases, the gifts likely go unreported, he said.
read ... Small Bribes OK?
Foreclosure fight, potential class action lawsuit?
KHON: A widow, Margery Kekauoha-Alisa, has ended a years-long foreclosure battle that led to bankruptcy. She thought the Hawaii Belt Road home she had owned on the Big Island with her now deceased husband was gone.
The case record shows they had missed their mortgage eight times. The bank had to foreclose.
That was 2005 and she wasn’t alone. Banks were taking homes en masse.
“Just looking at the four largest ones, we’ve calculated that just between them they took about 4,000 homes in this method in Hawaii alone, just in this state,” attorney Jim Bickerton said.
They had a right to do it, right there in black and white in the mortgage. Can’t pay your bills? The bank is going to sell your home.
By the same token, the bank promised to sell it according to law and for a fair price. And that’s what the banks weren’t doing.
“For example in Mrs. Kekauoha’s case the bank didn’t tell anyone when the auction was going to be. So how is she ever going to get a fair price for her home?” Bickerton said.
read ... Foreclosure fight, potential class action lawsuit?
Officers call in sick After Commanders Force them to Patrol
HNN: Honolulu Police Department officers upset over one captain's attempts to check up on them led to an outbreak of the "blue flu" Monday night, when about half the officers in East Honolulu's District 7 called in sick, sources said.
Police are using plain clothes officers in the Manoa area to respond to an increase in burglaries and thefts in the neighborhood in recent weeks....
Sources told Hawaii News Now one HPD captain's response to the spike in break-ins upset his patrol officers who staged the sickout Monday night on the third watch, which runs from 2:30 to 11 p.m. That's when about nine officers or half of those in East Honolulu's District 7, which stretches from Manoa to Makapuu, called in sick on the same night shift, HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said. ...
Sources said HPD Capt. Calvin Tong told the sergeants and lieutenants under him in District 7 that since property crime was rising in the district, they are responsible for making sure that officers are patrolling in their vehicles.
So sources said Tong told sergeants to check the odometers on officers' vehicles to make sure they are racking up daily mileage, and he asked lieutenants to check on the mileage of sergeants.
Tenari Maafala, the head of the police union, said this is the first time he's heard of HPD managers checking officers' odometers. ...
Meanwhile: Tax fraud, obstruction of justice no obstacle to Honolulu cop’s pension
read ... Officers call in sick in neighborhood struck by property crime
Guard Helped Samoan Prison Gang
SA: U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor said Hall, 38, should serve prison time because not only did he do the very thing he was supposed to prevent, he promoted gang-related activity in the prison and allowed a particular group, United Samoan Organization, or USO, to thrive.
The judge said Hall sold the cigarettes at $500 per carton to members of USO, who in turn sold the cigarettes to other inmates for $1,000 per carton. That allowed the gang to control the flow of contraband in the prison and to strong-arm other inmates, she said.
Federal prosecutor Michael David Nammar said Hall smuggled cigarettes into the prison for more than a year in exchange for $10,000 to $30,000 in bribes. Hall also warned the inmates of upcoming searches for contraband, he said.
Hall's actions helped fuel racketeering by USO, Nammar said.
read ... Another day in the nei
Freedom to Farm Rally Against Luddites
HTH: Hawaii Island farmers and ranchers plan to rally in opposition of Bill 79 today at 2 p.m. in front of the county building in Hilo.
The Hawaii Papaya Industry Association, Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association, Big Island Banana Growers Association, Hawaii Dairy, Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council are uniting to protest the GMO-ban bill, according to a written statement, to convey to the County Council the importance of allowing farmers, nursery growers, ranchers and retail businesses to have free choices in their livelihood. These organizations represent approximately 600 local businesses with 2,000 employees. Collectively, they contribute $130 million to the island’s economy, according to the statement.
“The bill contains no rhyme or reason,” said to Richard Ha, an island farmer who opposes bill 79. “We should be feeding Hawaii’s people but this bill is pitting people against farmers. We just want to have the freedom to farm.”
SA: Kauai Pesticide bill draws big crowd
read ... Freedom to Farm
3 more cases of hepatitis A in isles linked to Organic berry mix
SA: The sacred food of the eco-religion has claimed three more victims as deluded fools continue to believe the false claim that organic is healthful....
read ... Organic is Dangerous
AARP Holds Statewide Forums on Social Security & Medicare
AARP: The public is invited to attend any of the upcoming sessions. Registration is requested – call toll-free 1-877-926-8300 or register online:
- Oahu – Ward Warehouse, Kakaako Conference Room: Saturday, June 29 (9 – 11 a.m.)
- Kona – King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel: Saturday, July 20 (9 – 11 a.m.)
- Hilo – Hilo Hawaiian Hotel: Thursday, July 25 (5:30 – 7:30 p.m.)
- Lihue – Kauai at Coconut Beach Hotel: Saturday, August 10 (9:30 – 11:30 a.m.)
read ... AARP Holds Statewide Forums on Social Security & Medicare
Voting Rights: Racism Still Alive ... In Hawaii?
RB: It was as recently as 2000(!) that the United States Supreme Court had to step in to tell that State of Hawaii that it had to allow blacks, non-Native Hawaiian Asians, non-Hawaiian Native Americans and Caucasians to vote in ALL state elections, not just most of them, and, sad to say, to this day in Hawaii you'd still find a lot more support for that thrown-out law than you ever would for anti-black voting laws today in the deep South (even though Hawaii never has been covered by the Voting Rights Act).
In fact, racism is quite alive in Hawaii. If you have significant (by the state's standards) Hawaiian ancestry, you can go to this web page and sign up for special benefits the state's blacks, non-Native Hawaiian Asians, non-Hawaiian Native Americans and Caucasians are not entitled to, because of their race.
Interestingly, those Americans of Hawaiian ancestry who wish to sign up for public benefits other Americans are not entitled to because of their race must bring a photo ID to do so. I've never heard a peep of complaint about this from any of the civil rights groups, so I assume they don't mind the use of photo IDs to executive the few genuinely racist laws we have.
Which, to my mind, shows that we can't do civil rights piecemeal. We just have to treat everyone equally under the law. No exceptions for groups and no exceptions because of where you live.
read ... Hawaii Civil Rights?
Washington D.C. fed court dismisses Samoa citizenship lawsuit
SN: The federal court in Washington D.C. has dismissed the citizenship lawsuit filed last July by five American Samoans and a California based organization, whose suit asked the court to declare that all persons born in American Samoa should be automatic U.S. citizens.
Defendants in the suit are the federal government, and three U.S. State Department officials who last year asked the court to dismiss the case. Congressman Faleomavaega Eni, who filed an amicus brief as “friend of the court” supported the State Department....
In these cases, the Supreme Court contrasted “incorporated" territories — those lands expressly made part of the United States by an act of Congress — with “unincorporated territories” that had not yet become part of the United States and were not on a path toward statehood.
In the unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, birthright citizenship was conferred upon their inhabitants by various statutes many years after the United States acquired them, he said....
LINK: Samoa Citizenship Case Info
read ... Unincorporated
Willie: Increase Property Taxes on Ag Subdivisions or I Quit
HTH: A “stakeholders” task force to recommend ways to make the Hawaii County property tax system more fair has become mired in controversy even before it has been formed.
A resolution introduced in December to establish the task force will be heard for the fifth time July 10, following accusations of politics that have led the sponsor, Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, to say she may step down as a member of the task force if the County Council persists in changing the proposed makeup of the committee. (Great!)
“I thought we had it approved and everything was fine,” Wille said Thursday. “We had it where three members of the public who had knowledge and skill and would be objective would be on it, where it was not a political process. If this is going to be a political deal and more looking out for a particular constituency. … That’s not the basis I wanted to be on it.”
The proposed task force is one of 40 recommendations in a 99-page March 2012, report by the International Association of Assessing Officers. A working group of former Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann and former Ka‘u Councilwoman Brittany Smart, along with top Finance Department officials and representatives from the public, prioritized the recommendations.
Wille had inherited the project from her predecessor, Hoffmann, who had convinced the council to pay $40,000 for the study.
Agriculture exemptions and the possible abuse of them will be the first order of work for the task force.
HTH: Hawaii Co Bus fares increase Monday
read ... Kona vs the World
Former teacher gets 10 years in meth case
HTH: A former Keaukaha Elementary School special education teacher whose sentence on a methamphetamine conviction was overturned on appeal has been re-sentenced to 10 years in prison....
Dionise, who is serving her federal sentence at a prison in San Bernardino, Calif., was arrested on April 29, 2008, after police armed with a search warrant found 6.8 grams of crystal methamphetamine, or “ice,” a small amount of marijuana and $13,245 in cash in her Keaukaha condominium.
She addressed the court and talked about the 3 1/2 years she’s been incarcerated.
“During that time, I’ve completed and benefited from 27 classes and/or programs, and this far exceeds the amount of recommended programming from (the Federal Bureau of Prisons),” Dionise said. “I’ve also held jobs that required the respect and trust of the supervisors.” She added that she’s been “discipline-free” while incarcerated, which she said proves that she can comply with the law. She added that she’s taken drug-treatment programs and is participating in Narcotics Anonymous.
“But my biggest change, your Honor, is my internal change. I’m not the same person,” she said. “I was a drug addict. I’m not that person anymore.”
(Meanwhile back in the DoE there is no drug testing thanks to ACLU and HSTA.)
read ... And still no drug testing
Civil Beat Visits NSA, Does Restaurant Review
CB: Two Navy chaperones kept an eye on me while an animated discussion took place inside the security kiosk nearby. They still had my car keys and my license.
As the minutes ticked off on my work day, I engaged Guard No. 2 with some small talk.
“I bet it’s been crazy around here with all the media, huh?”
“No. Why? What do you mean?”
“Uh. Well, because of Ed Snowden.”
“Who’s that?”
“You know, the NSA whistleblower who worked in Hawaii?”
“Never heard of him. I don’t really pay attention to the news.”
He might have been lying, but maybe not. Those guards didn't look any older than college seniors. And there were indications that they didn’t get off the base often. One of them believed "fine dining" was a Korean joint in Wahiawa. I also had to explain to them what a kamaaina discount was.
read ... Fine Dining
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