House Speaker Joseph Souki cries that his letter to Circuit Judge E. John McConnell wasn't intended to influence the sentence of John Murakami, former Maui director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association. Murakami pleaded no contest to fondling a 12-year-old girl's vagina and breasts.
It would be easier to believe Souki if his letter hadn't expressed hope that his comments "will be viewed favorably during Mr. John Murakami's sentencing." It would be easier to believe Souki if he hadn't tried to give his letter extra weight by putting it on House stationery and identifying himself as the House speaker.
Souki was one of many of the labor leader's political pals who wrote to the judge in an obvious campaign to win leniency. Other supporters included state legislators Rosalyn Baker, Joseph Tanaka, Robert Nakasone and Avery Chumbley, and Maui County Council members Alice Lee and Robert Monden.
Monden also issued a public defense of his action. "Here was a friend who had fallen, afflicted with a disease and asking for help," he said, bemoaning that his entire term on the Council might be judged by this one incident.
Baker said jail time sometimes isn't in the best interest of the community and doesn't guarantee rehabilitation. "Quite frankly, I thought that there were qualities he exhibited as a professional that might be of some benefit to the community," Baker said.
Fortunately, Judge McConnell showed the good sense that the legislators lacked. He not only ignored the political calls for leniency, but rejected a plea agreement that would have jailed Murakami for only four months and sentenced him to a year.
The legislators can't understand why many voters are so upset that they are taking a hit list of politicians who wrote sentencing letters into the polling booth.
Here's the reason in simple terms: Voters are mad because the lawmakers showed little concern for the victim and little understanding of the seriousness of the crime.
Childhood sexual abuse can cripple victims for life. They must forever fight off loss of self-worth, distrust of others, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, self-destructive behavior and dysfunctional relationships.
Yet the Maui legislators saved their sympathy for the abuser. He's a sick man, they said. He needs help. He needs counseling. He needs understanding. Blah. Blah. Blah.
They forgot what he needed most: punishment for his terrible crime. This is how we encourage sick child molesters to think twice before again preying on the most innocent and defenseless members of our society.
IT'S alarming that the people who write our criminal law don't understand this. These officials should be leading the battle to protect our children from abuse, not battling to keep politically connected abusers out of jail.
So yes, it's fair for voters to judge politicians on this one issue. It's reasonable for voters to worry that public officials have lost touch with community values when they suggest that a molester's professional qualities somehow mitigate a crime that irreparably harms a child.
This was a basic test of character and they failed. In the twisted world of politics, they may define character as knee-jerk loyalty to cronies no matter what they do. But character in the real world is standing up for a little girl who has been horribly abused, not for her abuser.
