Thursday, November 21, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Sunday, February 12, 2012
Supreme Court Decision Clarifies Line Between Discipline and Abuse
By Robert Thomas @ 5:52 PM :: 6207 Views :: Energy, Environment

HAWSCT: Due Process, Parents' Rights, And The Need For Appellate Counsel

by Robert Thomas, InverseCondemnation.com

In a case we've been tracking (because we represent the petitioner), the Hawaii Supreme Court has issued a unanimous opinion in Hamilton v. Lethem, No. SCWC-27580 (Feb. 7, 2012). As we previewed here when the cert application was accepted, the issues in the case revolve around the due process rights of parents in civil TRO proceedings in Family Court.

The court held that "parents have a constitutional right to discipline children inherent in their liberty interest ... under the due process clause ... of the Hawaii Constitution[,] ... trial courts shall consider whether the discipline is reasonably related to the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of the minor in determining whether the parent's conduct constituted abuse or proper discipline, and ... a non-custodial parent retains the right to discipline a child when the child is under his or her supervision." Slip op. at 1-2. This decision will have a positive impact on the administration of justice across our state, and more importantly, it protects the rights of Hawaii's parents to have their day in court. A great day for due process and the rule of law. My Damon Key co-counsel Rebecca Copeland, who argued the case. has more on her blog Record on Appeal here.

One final point worth mentioning: we were late to this case, having only come in on the appellate level (Mr. Lethem represented himself in some of the earlier stages of the case, and the Intermediate Court of Appeals expressed some understandable frustration with the presentation of the arguments). While he represented himself quite ably given the circumstances (how many pro se petitioners have you seen who prevail on the "collateral consequences" exception to the mootness rules?), the later proceedings were an example of how appellate counsel add special value to a case by narrowing the points of appeal, focusing the issues, and highlighting the critical pieces of the case for the court. See slip op. at 13 ("Petitioner, now represented by counsel, lists the following questions in his Application:").

Hamilton v. Lethem, No. SCWC-27580 (Haw. Feb. 7, 2012)

---30---

Volokh Conspiracy: Constitutional Right to Moderately Corporally Punish One’s Child

Hamilton v. Lethem, No. SCWC-27580 (Feb. 7, 2012), the opinion we posted about here is being hotly debated and discussed at the Volokh Conspiracy blog here.

Barista's note (since we represented the petitioner): many of the comments on Volokh make judgments about whether Father's acts constituted "abuse." However, the point we made in our arguments to the Hawaii Supreme Court was not that the court should determine whether they were or not, but rather whether it was possible for the lower courts to reach that conclusion without standards to guide the analysis. In the absence of standards, any conclusion they made regarding abuse was an ad hoc decision and violated due process. Thus, the Supreme Court did not reeach a conclusion about whether Father's acts were permissible discipline, but remanded the case to the family court to apply the standards the court set forth in the opinion, so it could make that determination.

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii