Court lets ACLU The state Supreme Court refused to dismiss a challenge to a constitutional amendment approved by voters that gives prosecutors another option for charging felony suspects.
suit stand
The lawsuit challenges an amendment
allowing prosecutors to bypass certain stepsBy Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.comThe American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii challenged the felony prosecutions amendment on the Nov. 5 general election ballot and is seeking to invalidate its ratification by 57.3 percent of voters.
The court denied the state's motion to dismiss the case and ordered both sides to prepare arguments on the lawsuit.
The state had argued that the Supreme Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.
The lawsuit alleges the state provided misleading informational materials about the amendment and failed to follow strict requirements of publishing the actual text of the amendment beginning four weeks before the election.
The state also failed to have the text available in every public library, said ACLU cooperating attorney Lunsford Phillips.
"The state admitted that it had never published the actual text of the amendment until after we had sued the state (in Circuit Court), and it then published the text of the amendment in the Star-Bulletin," he said.
"It first appeared six days before the general election, which was already under way," he said.
Absentee and walk-in voters who cast their ballots early had no opportunity to review the proposed amendment, he said.
The amendment gives county prosecutors a "direct charging" method of bringing felony charges against suspects.
Prosecutors would be able to submit documentation to a judge to establish probable cause, rather than presenting live testimony before grand juries or in preliminary hearings.
Proponents said the procedure would streamline the process, cost less and ease the burden on witnesses, victims and law enforcement.
But critics say it would deny defendants' rights of due process.
The ACLU's complaint, however, did not argue the merits of the amendment itself.
"Whether it's good public policy or not is an entirely separate issue, and not one the ACLU or the Supreme Court is going to decide," Phillips said.
Defendants in the lawsuit are Gov. Linda Lingle, chief election officer Dwayne Yoshina and Wendell Kimura, the acting director of the state Legislative Reference Bureau.
The Attorney General's office could not be reached for comment.
American Civil Liberties Union
State of Hawaii
