Governor passes
the pen to Hirono

The signing into law of the hate-crime bill approved by this year's Legislature appears to have been anything but extemporaneous.

Governor Cayetano had expressed misgivings about the measure, which increases punishment for crimes motivated by race, religion, disability, ethnicity, national origin or sexual orientation. The governor expressed concern about "distinguishing one category from another" in criminal cases and satisfaction with the ability of existing laws to "protect everyone." Not much enthusiasm there but not enough opposition to warrant a veto, and there's no ceremony in allowing a bill to become law without a signature.

However, Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono was a sponsor of failed hate-crime legislation in the early 1990s and remained an avid supporter. When Cayetano left the state for San Diego to promote Hawaiian Airlines' new connection, Hirono was more than happy, as acting governor in the boss's absence, to sign the hate-crimes bill into law.

--Lee Catterall

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