Editorials
Friday, March 6, 1998PUERTO Ricans may soon be asked to choose their island's future political status -- U.S. commonwealth, U.S. state or independent nation. A bill for a referendum on the issue, to be held this year, passed the House by one vote and is pending in the Senate. As a former territory that campaigned for decades for statehood, Hawaii should be supportive for statehood for Puerto Rico if that is what its people choose. Puerto Ricans should
vote on political statusBoth of Hawaii's representatives, Neil Abercrombie and Patsy Mink, voted in favor of the referendum. Mink recalled that both Hawaii and Alaska "went through years and years of agony, of pleading with this Congress to be admitted as a complete partner, as a state."
This is an issue that has been debated for many years. In a 1967 plebiscite, commonwealth status won 67 percent of the vote. In 1993, commonwealth, which has been in place since 1952, got 48 percent and statehood 46 percent -- a much closer result. Independence received negligible support in both referendums and is not considered likely to do any better in another one.
Under the new proposal, if the Puerto Ricans chose statehood, the legislation would compel Congress to vote on approval of a 51st state as early as 1999, with actual admission into the union occurring no more than 10 years later.
The plebiscite now under consideration would differ from the 1993 vote. Five years ago, the ballot questions included a more liberal definition of commonwealth, promising additional federal benefits that the new plebiscite would not offer. The 1993 referendum also did not require Congress to act, as this bill would.
A major practical consideration is that statehood would mean Puerto Ricans would be subject to the federal income tax. Under commonwealth status, they aren't, although they have been U.S. citizens since 1917. On the other hand, statehood would probably result in more federal spending on the island. Federal tax breaks for U.S. companies with manufacturing operations in Puerto Rico were an attraction of commonwealth status but have been reduced in recent years.
The key benefit of statehood is that it would give Puerto Ricans the right to vote in federal elections -- for Congress and for president. Puerto Rico came under the U.S. flag about the same time as Hawaii, but Hawaii has been a state since 1959. If the Puerto Ricans choose statehood, they ought to get it.
PROFESSIONAL athletes who believe they are exempt from the legal constraints of society are under no illusion after all. Latrell Sprewell has demonstrated that you can choke your employer and threaten to kill him, take a 20-minute break and then punch him in the face without fear of losing your job -- that is, if your job is playing pro basketball. That was the ruling of an arbitrator who is no less than the dean of the Fordham Law School, John Feerick. Sprewell's wrist slap
Sprewell is the $8-million-a-year Golden State Warrior who became so annoyed at the rough talk of coach P.J. Carlesimo at a practice session last December that he choked and threatened to kill him. Sprewell then walked to the office of the general manager and demanded to be traded. After showering and dressing, Sprewell worked up another sweat by breaking the grasp of two assistant coaches to land a punch on Carlesimo. Several players finally were successful in pulling him away.
The Warriors quickly terminated Sprewell's four-year contract. The firing seemed justified, since a clause in the uniform player contract requires that players must "conform to standards of good citizenship and good moral character" and forbids "engaging in acts of moral turpitude."
NBA Commissioner David Stern then banned Sprewell from league play for a full year.
Sprewell took his case to arbitration, where Feerick reached the astonishing conclusion that the violence was not premeditated. Finding "no history of both the league and a team imposing discipline for the same violent conduct, on or off the court," Feerick reduced Sprewell's punishment to a wrist slap on the basis of "fairness."
The former NBA all-star will be allowed to return to the pro ranks on July 1, either with the Warriors or another club, and is assured the remaining $16.3 million on his four-year contract. The episode will cost Sprewell $6.4 million in lost salary, which he can easily afford.
By that absurd reasoning, any employee who decides to choke the boss, threaten his life and punch him in the face should be assured continued employment because of what one law school dean regards as "fairness." That sense of fairness is hard to fathom. People in other occupations would be foolish to test it in the workplace.
SENDING Hawaii inmates to Texas prisons doesn't look like such a good idea anymore. Since 1995 Hawaii has sent 600 inmates, including 64 women, to four Texas prisons and the state plans to send another 600 inmates there this year. Texas prisons
But a series of riots and fires at one of the privately operated Texas prisons, the Newton County Correctional Center, has prompted the Texas Jail Standards Commission to find that the prison is not complying with the state's minimum standards.
The commission has given the Bobby Ross Group, which manages the Newton County facility, until the end of the month to make improvements. Failure to comply could result in closure of the prison, reduction in the inmate population or changes in staffing.
Sending inmates to Texas was a sound decision in view of the need for immediate action to relieve overcrowding. But the recent problems there make it clear that this is only a temporary solution. The permanent one is more prison capacity in Hawaii.
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
