Ige right to veto bill OK’d via ‘gut and replace’
Support emergency powers reform in spirit of July 4th
The Verified Complaint In Equity: The Declaration Of Independence
The 1840 Hawaiian Constitution and the Fourth of July
Hawaii Schools consider effects of Supreme Court ruling on coach’s prayer
SA: … A policy for public schools in Hawaii says employees cannot initiate prayers or religious observances during school or school-sponsored activities. Yet prayers and moments of silence or reflection have been taking place at some Hawaii public school games for years, led by coaches at athletic fields, gyms and other sites.
The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision June 27, held that former Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joseph A. Kennedy’s kneeling on the 50-yard line in post-game prayer was private speech protected by the First Amendment’s free speech and free exercise of religion clauses. It was the latest step by the court to expand the role of religion in public life…
In Hawaii, state Board of Education Policy 900-3 says state public school employees acting in their official capacity cannot initiate prayers or religious observances during school or school-sponsored activities.
The policy reads, “Prayer and other religious observances shall not be organized or sponsored by schools and the administrative and support units of the public school system, especially where students are in attendance or can observe the activities.”…
Eva Andrade, president of Hawaii Family Forum, an educational and advocacy nonprofit organization, said she welcomes the court’s ruling.
“I think we would always support an individual’s right to bring their faith to their occupation, as long as there is no coercion” that pressures others to join in, she said….
read … Schools wrestle with effects of Supreme Court ruling on coach’s prayer
Redistricting: Some Incumbents will be Eliminated in Primary
SA: … In the Senate, redistricting is pitting two incumbents on Hawaii island, Sens. Laura Acasio (aka “Little Miss Impeachment’) and Lorraine Inouye, against each other in the Democratic primary election to represent Hilo and some neighboring areas.
On Oahu a head-to-head Democratic primary election race between incumbents is on between Reps. Gregg Takayama and Roy Takumi.
Takayama and Takumi live less than a mile from each other in Pearl City. They were first elected to the House in 2012 and 1993, respectively. Much of the House district boundary between their homes during the past decade ran along Waimano Home Road but now jogs into a Manana neighborhood where Takumi lives….
The new Kona district with no incumbent between where Lowen and Kapela live has attracted five candidates — three Democrats and two Republicans.
Fascinating factoid: Acasio's office Manager, Kristine Kubat, is a 9-11 Conspiracy Theorist
Flashback: Senate: Ige Appoints Anti-Telescope Activist Acasio who Wanted Him Impeached
read … Redrawn districts present choices for voters
Hawaii Will Add A Few Voter Centers For This Year’s Primary. Are More Needed?
CB: … Thousands of voters who wanted to cast their votes in-person on Election Day in November 2020 found themselves waiting for hours in long lines outside Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale.
That was the year Hawaii switched to all-mail voting and opened just eight in-person voting locations across the islands. The long wait times spurred calls for additional voter service centers ahead of the 2022 elections. The Legislature cleared the way for that last year.
Now, Oahu will get two more voter centers in Wahiawa and Kaneohe while Maui will get another center in Hana.
But the Big Island is still sticking with its voter centers in Kona and Hilo. There won’t be any additional centers on Kauai either.
The primary election Aug. 13…
good-government advocates are calling for as many as 15 additional centers across the state in order to increase voter access and participation….
Common Cause is asking for additional voter centers on Oahu in Waianae, Nanakuli, Ewa Beach, Pearl City, Laie and Waimanalo; on Maui in Lahaina, Kihei and Makawao; on Kauai in Poipu and Anahola; and on Hawaii island in Pahoa, Waimea, Volcano and Honokaa….
Districts that had the highest rates of in-person voting also tended to be closer to voter service centers. The top two House districts that voted in-person were in Kona and Kapolei, according to election data. Both towns host voter service centers.
In-person voting was also popular among some voters in Ewa Beach and Kunia on Oahu; in South Maui and Wailuku on Maui; and in Lihue and around towns on Kauai’s northeast shore….
And the crowds that overwhelmed Oahu’s two voting sites and caused smaller lines on other islands only showed up on Election Day, when over 8,000 voters statewide came to cast their ballots. That’s about a third of the 24,000 voters who voted in person during the general election period….
read … Hawaii Will Add A Few Voter Centers For This Year’s Primary. Are More Needed?
UPW Endorses Kahele
SA: … U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele received a needed endorsement in his gubernatorial bid Thursday from the United Public Workers union, while opponent Lt. Gov. Josh Green simultaneously was endorsed by the AFL-CIO, adding to Green’s long list of support from Hawaii labor unions.
Kahele’s endorsement from the UPW — Hawaii’s second-largest public workers union with 11,000 members — comes amid his call to outlaw “direct union-to-candidate contributions” while calling himself “a proud card-carrying union member.”
He now has been endorsed by three unions, including Iron Workers Local 625 and the masons, after telling their leaders he would not accept donations from union political action committees….
read … U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele gets key union backing, Lt. Gov. Josh Green adds to long list
Trust The People Of Hawaii To Carry Guns Responsibly
CB: … We shouldn't be treated as children by nanny state regulators….
SA Off the News: Young wins gun rights case
read … Trust The People Of Hawaii To Carry Guns Responsibly
Hawaiian ‘Occupied Forces’ Group Ousted From Kunia Property By Police
CB: … a video posted on Instagram showing Tom Berg pointing a pistol at members of the OFHA. Berg was sent to the Waipahu property by the owners to deal with the squatters and an altercation ensued ….
ILind: A few more thoughts about the Kunia land occupation
ILind: Squatters cleared from Kunia land (for now)
LINK: More Berg Photos
read … Hawaiian ‘Occupied Forces’ Group Ousted From Kunia Property By Police
Civil Beat Law Center Goes To Court To Make Prison Covid-19 Reports Public
CB: … The reports grew out of a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of state inmates last year alleging that corrections officials “failed to implement most, if not all, of the precautions public health experts have issued to prevent the spread of COVID-19” in prisons and jails.
That lawsuit was filed by the law firm of Eric Seitz, who said it was lawyers for the state who insisted the reports on the findings of the panel to be kept secret.
“We are bound by the settlement agreement, but I hope the court orders the reports to be disclosed,” Seitz said in an emailed statement.
Federal District Court Judge Jill Otake ruled last July that the Department of Public Safety had failed to protect inmates from a series of coronavirus outbreaks inside state correctional facilities, and had failed to follow its own Pandemic Response Plan.
That 69-page ruling on Seitz’s class action suit cited major Covid-19 outbreaks at six correctional facilities where Hawaii inmates are held, and pointed out that thousands of prisoners had been infected….
read … Civil Beat Law Center Goes To Court To Make Prison Covid-19 Reports Public
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