Newsmaker
Monday, November 23, 1998
Name: Sandy Ma
Age: 28
Education: Johns Hopkins University; University of Maryland
Occupation: Legal director, ACLU of Hawaii Foundation
Hobbies: Hiking
Sandy Ma's family wanted her to be a doctor, but after heading that direction in university for four years -- earning a premed degree in biology at Johns Hopkins -- she knew she had taken the wrong turn. Protecting our freedom
Ma took off a year and immersed herself in courses that science majors usually don't -- philosophy, sociology, medieval literature.
She ended up an attorney who wanted to have an impact on the community at large. Working for the American Civil Liberties Union offered her that opportunity.
Her internship with the ACLU in Maryland was the most meaningful experience in her life. Ma has been with the ACLU ever since, also working with the organization in North Carolina.
"A lot of people don't realize how tenuous and fragile our liberties are," she said. "There's really a big need to protect our freedom. When I was working in Maryland, I understood that."
Ma was born in a country that only in recent years turned from authoritarian rule toward democracy. Her family moved from Taiwan to the United States when she was 2 years old. She grew up in Georgia.
In Hawaii she is the first ACLU staff attorney here in four years, a situation that arose because of budget restraints, and she's taken on a full load.
"Every area of civil liberties needs to be shored up," she said. Specific areas she pointed to: prison conditions, First Amendment rights, freedom of speech, police misconduct, unreasonable search and seizure.
In her position, Ma will be in charge of the litigation program's day-to-day activities, presenting cases to a committee composed of volunteer attorneys.
She also will be involved in lobbying. The office will be supporting legislation that would give a deadline for the release of government information requested through freedom of information.
"Criminal or not, everybody has certain basic fundamental rights you cannot take away," she said.
Ma enjoys going to the beach -- Waimanalo is her favorite -- and hiking with her husband, Edward Pier, a "telecommuter" with NASA-based Raython.
"We love the hikes here," she said. "It's such a change from North Carolina."
Susan Kreifels, Star-Bulletin
