[ OUR OPINION ]
Protect jailed youths
from guards’ retaliationWITH bullish audacity, the United Public Workers is asking the state Labor Relations Board to force the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii to reveal the names of young inmates who reported being abused by guards. The ACLU's valuable report to the attorney general in August would not have been possible without the assurance of confidentiality to the youths, and the labor board should quickly dismiss the UPW's brazen request.
THE ISSUE
The union representing guards at Hawaii's youth correctional facility wants the names of wards who confided to the ACLU about abuse.Brent White, the ACLU's legal director in Hawaii, learned of abuses at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Center in Kailua from anonymous telephone calls. He then was given permission by the state Attorney General's Office to conduct an investigation and talk to the inmates.
In essence, the attorney general allowed the ACLU, which is in the business of protecting the legal rights of people who can't afford to hire attorneys, to provide its services to the state wards. White says he established an attorney-client relationship at the beginning of each of his interviews with the 70 wards, assuring them that their identities would be protected by attorney-client privilege.
The result was a scathing report detailing incidents of guards forcing the children to sit naked in cells, making them relieve themselves in buckets and repeatedly beating them. Girls said they were sexually harassed and assaulted, and their privacy was invaded while dressing, sleeping and using the bathroom. In preparing the report, White was acting on the wards' behalf. If successful, the UPW's attempt to infringe on the wards' anonymity could further endanger them.
A version of the report that was made public did not include the names of the allegedly abusive guards, who are UPW members, but the report to the attorney general did. If the state were to take disciplinary action against the named guards, the UPW would have a legitimate complaint that those guards should be allowed to face their accusers.
That is not the case. Instead, Governor Lingle replaced top management at the facility and Attorney General Mark Bennett launched his own criminal investigation into violence by guards. Allegations made in the ACLU report can be used as tips, not as evidence, in any case brought by the state.
UPW attorney Herbert Takahashi claims that the ACLU violated state labor law by conducting the investigation on the basis of hearsay accounts of guard misconduct. While the phone calls may have been hearsay, the allegations made to White during his interviews at the facility came directly from victims or witnesses of abuse.
Unlike some states, Hawaii's law does not specifically provide for confidentiality of youth inmates' statements to attorneys or news reporters, but the attorney-client privilege is required by Hawaii's ethical code of conduct for lawyers. The labor board should honor that requirement.
