This was a flagrant abuse of power and a violation of the companies' First Amendment rights. The advertising in question did not deal with any policy being sold by State Farm but with the merits of legislation - aiming to persuade the public that the governor's veto of the no-fault bill should be overridden. The insurance commissioner's unfounded and irresponsible charge had the effect of muzzling the company, although the hearing officer dismissed the charge. No further advertisements on the issue have appeared since.
The governor has since rewarded the insurance commissioner, Wayne Metcalf, by appointing him to a vacant seat in the Senate - implicitly expressing his approval of Metcalf's action.
Now the Legislature is about to join in the fun. Richard S. Miller, chairman of the Honolulu Community-Media Council, points out that provisions in the auto insurance bills currently pending in both the House and Senate would authorize the insurance commissioner to repeat his actions to punish companies attempting to participate in the debate over auto insurance reform. Miller, a former dean of the University of Hawaii Law School, says the language "would encourage outrageous violations of freedom of speech."
The Star-Bulletin protested Metcalf's action against State Farm two years ago, and the Community-Media Council subsequently expressed its objections. We find the language in the pending legislation particularly disturbing because it appears to be an attempt to legitimize Metcalf's abuses and authorize their repetition.
Apparently both the Cayetano administration and the Legislature need to be reminded of the First Amendment prohibition of government abridgement of the rights of free speech and press. They got one lesson last year when a state law requiring the Star-Bulletin and Advertiser to make financial disclosures in excess of those required by other corporations - a blatant attempt at harassment - was thrown out in federal court. Evidently that didn't sink in.
All those who believe in freedom should be fighting this latest attempt by the state to muzzle dissent.
The visitor industry is faced with shrinking numbers of tourists after two years of recovery from recession. None of this will be made easier by the need to find a capable replacement for the departing Casey at the helm of the tourism industry's key promotional agency.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor