[ OUR OPINION ]
Plea bargain suits case
of ‘ice mother’HAVING made the point that women who use illicit drugs will be held responsible for their newborn babies' drug-induced deaths, the city prosecutor has exercised proper discretion in reaching a plea agreement. The agreement was suited to defendant Tayshea Aiwohi, a mother of five who no longer uses crystal methamphetamine and now counsels drug addicts. The case should be heeded by pregnant women who take drugs but should not discourage them from seeking treatment.
THE ISSUE
A Kaneohe woman has pleaded no contest to a manslaughter charge for causing her newborn son's death by smoking crystal meth.
Numerous health care providers protested last month when City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle authorized the grand jury indictment of Aiwohi, 31, of Kaneohe, who admitted smoking crystal meth before giving birth and then breast-feeding the baby, who died two days after birth. The protesters contended that the baby's death resulted from the mother's "disease" of drug addiction.
Aiwohi acquired the "disease" of her own volition and should have known she was passing it on to her baby. Carlisle accurately described the baby's death as "the reckless killing of another human being." He would have been remiss in allowing the death to go uncharged.
Those opposed to the indictment expressed concern that it would discourage drug-abusing expectant mothers from seeking treatment. Actually, it should prompt them to get help. Health care providers should assure them that physician-patient confidentiality will prevent their being reported to law-enforcement agencies.
Aiwohi pleaded no contest last week to the manslaughter charge and was sentenced to 10 years of probation, including drug testing. Using drugs could result in her probation being revoked.
Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Kim said the intention of his office was to hold Aiwohi accountable for her actions and to obtain justice for the baby. "The objective was not to throw this woman into jail," he said, adding, "We understand she's cleaned up her act, so probation is appropriate."
The plea bargain allows the Public Defender's Office to appeal Circuit Judge Michael Town's refusal to dismiss the charge. It does not require the issue to be considered by the state Supreme Court, which could turn it away as being moot.
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Traffic solutions lie
in better planningHAWAII'S mayors recognize that the answer to their counties' chronic traffic problems does not lie in building more roads or expanding roads already in place. Instead, they see the wisdom of setting commercial and retail hubs within housing developments so that residents don't have to climb into their cars just to pick up a quart of milk or rent a DVD.
THE ISSUE
County leaders say mixing residential and commercial centers is a way to reduce the need for more roads.
It is an old-fashioned community design that has been mostly washed away by a 20th-century notion that people should live in one area and shop and work in another, an idea largely brought about by government policies that promoted highway construction and automobile use as the American standard.
Now, as the press for road-building exceeds funding and space in the islands, county mayors see a shift from auto focus to better-planned communities and public transportation as solutions.
The Big Island's Harry Kim, at a forum for mayors last week, pointed out the futility of concentrating efforts on more highways. Without development changes and transportation alternatives, automobile numbers will grow as long as the population does and "we will never catch up," Kim said.
The mayors agreed that creating communities where walking or biking is easy and safe, and where public transportation is fast and convenient should be the goal.
A look at newer housing developments displays the blueprint that forces residents to drive. Subdivisions in the same area often are separated by walls or fences that builders use to distinguish their projects from others and to provide a semblance of security. Although a shopping area may be just a quarter-mile away, barriers compel residents to take a longer route, which discourages walking.
Stores are grouped, partly for convenience but also because it is financially practical for landowners and large-scale retailers. The corner grocery, neighborhood hardware store and diner have been lost even as they hold iconic status in American culture.
Older neighborhoods like Moiliili and Kaimuki reflect the symbiotic residential-commercial mix that can curb the need to drive. Road configurations tend to slow motor traffic while parks provide greenery and recreation space and sidewalk benches a place to rest.
The county leaders acknowledge that the driving habit is hard to break, but Hawaii might no longer have a choice -- unless multi-decked freeways, tunneled mountains, cloverleaf interchanges and tarmac are what we want.
The mayors say developers should be encouraged to adopt the old style of building communities. As leaders, they should be at the forefront by changing laws and planning requirements to mirror the future they envision.
