[ OUR OPINION ]

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Let judges decide
on long sentences

THE ISSUE A citizens' panel has recommended that Hawaii not enact legislation similar to California's "three strikes" law.

THE U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year upholding California's "three strikes" law does not mean the measure is good policy. The harsh law has contributed to that state's overcrowded prisons and unwieldy budget. A citizen's panel has recommended wisely that Hawaii should not follow that example.

The California law requires a prison term of 25 years to life for anyone convicted of a felony after two previous serious or violent felony convictions. U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo called for changes in Hawaii's law following the shooting death last year of police officer Glen Gaspar by Shane Mark, whose police record included four felony convictions. Shane was convicted last month of Gaspar's murder and faces a life prison sentence with the minimum term to be set by the Hawaii Paroling Authority.

Hawaii has followed other states in recent decades in tying judges' hands in sentencing felons. The three-strikes law is the most extreme form of mandatory sentencing and has resulted in ridiculous sentences in California. The two cases upheld by the high court involved one man sentenced to 50 years in prison for stealing $153 worth of children's videotapes and another getting 25 years for stealing golf clubs worth $1,200.

The report by the citizens' panel, requested by the Hawaii Senate, concluded that California's law "sweeps too broadly and has not been proven to be effective." Kubo, who was a member of the panel, said he agrees with its recommendation that would allow special sentencing for violent or dangerous repeat offenders.

Hawaii judges already can impose special sentences for particularly violent or dangerous offenders, and that discretion could be increased. Kubo is correct in saying that some some repeat offenders of violent crimes "must be isolated from our citizens in order to protect the public safety," but the sentencing judge should make that decision.

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Reform will take
incentives, teeth

THE ISSUE President Bush has proposed three-year work visas for illegal aliens now working at U.S. jobs.

ADVOCATES for undocumented immigrants are praising President Bush's proposed guest worker program as a small step in the right direction, while conservatives are complaining that it amounts to amnesty for illegal aliens. Legislation should provide incentives for immigrants to abide by the law to gain permanent residency in the United States and should stiffen enforcement of laws against those who don't. For purely political reasons, both the Bush proposal and recent congressional action fail to do that.

The Bush plan is reminiscent of the Bracero Program of 1942 that allowed seasonal farm workers from Mexico to toil in the United States. The program was dropped in disrepute in 1964 after it became clear that the 4 million guest workers had been exploited terribly by their employers and inevitably remained in the United States because conditions in their homeland were even worse.

Bush's proposal provides no avenue for guest workers to obtain green cards -- permanent U.S. residence -- and to eventually become American citizens. Instead, it offers three-year work visas, renewable for an unspecified period, after which they are expected to go home to their native countries. About half of the estimated 8 million to 10 million illegal immigrants are from Mexico, including about 9,000 working at farms on Maui and the Big Island.

A proposal by three members of Congress from Arizona would provide such three-year work visas to foreign citizens offered jobs that employers say Americans don't want. Current illegal aliens would be allowed to remain at their jobs for three years before qualifying for the three-year visas. When those work visas expire, the workers could obtain green cards and enter the path to U.S. citizenship. That would provide a good incentive for them to follow the law, so is preferable to the president's proposal.

Meanwhile, the government needs to crack down on illegal aliens using false documents to obtain jobs. A 1996 law established pilot programs in five states that allow employers to cross-check online or by toll-free telephone the documents presented by new employees with the Social Security Administration and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, now the Citizenship and Immigration Service.

Those programs have been effective in exposing fraudulent documents presented by prospective employees, and Congress extended them in November for five years. The problem is that the programs remain voluntary and limited to California, Texas, Illinois, Florida and New York, the states with the highest estimated illegal immigration. They should be mandatory and nationwide.

The president and Congress are approaching the issue of illegal immigration in ways that assure continued campaign contributions from agribusiness and don't alienate Hispanic groups in this presidential election year. Neither approach will significantly reduce the growth rate of 350,000 illegal aliens a year.