Would require jail time for a defendant's fourth misdemeanor.
Today's felon sentenced to a 20-year prison term is likely to serve little more than a fourth of that time behind bars before being paroled, according to state Attorney General Margery Bronster. She and other law-enforcement officials propose that felons serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. The proposal is appealing because, if adopted, it would qualify Hawaii for a $1 million federal grant for prison construction.
Other proposals that make sense but which would further strain the existing prison system:
Would require jail time for a defendant's fourth misdemeanor.
Make a defendant's fourth theft a felony regardless of the value of the stolen goods.
Make a conviction for the manufacture of drugs punishable by a maximum 20-year prison sentence, with a 10-year minimum term for manufacturing methamphetamine or distributing it to minors.
The group declined to endorse an idea by city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle to try juveniles as adults after three offenses. It preferred giving Family Court judges more discretion in waiving their jurisdiction and sending juveniles to adult court.
One proposal stems from the recent verdict in the beating of Chicago police officer James Boreczky at a North Shore bus stop. A jury indicated, in rejecting first-degree robbery charges against Boreczky's assailants, that they thought his injuries were more severe than his attackers intended. The Legislature is being asked to allow for a robbery conviction in thefts involving "reckless disregard for causing serious or substantial bodily harm." The addition should correct what the Boreczky verdict showed to be a major loophole in the statute.
The proposals also include making police officers subject to the same criminal sanctions as prison guards who have sex with people in custody. A Kauai judge in November acquitted a police officer of charges that he sexually assaulted an exotic dancer being held in custody because prosecutors couldn't prove that the sexual activity was not consensual. It shouldn't matter whether it is consensual, however, when a law-enforcement officer has authority over a person.
None of the proposals submitted by the law-enforcement group are unreasonably harsh and all of them could improve Hawaii's criminal laws. But most would have to go hand-in-hand with a heck of a lot more prison space.
While the primary purpose of the convention center is and can continue to be attracting a strong, steady stream of lucrative and large outside functions to the islands -- until that dream is realized -- the HCCA should wake up to more flexibility in its thoughts, deeds and mission. Hawaii businesses should be allowed to fill the pukas in the convention center schedule.
Pro-democracy forces clearly have won the momentum against the ruling party. The question is how Serbia's federal government will cooperate with Zajedno-led city governments in the months ahead, and whether the momentum will continue into parliamentary and presidential elections later this year.
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