Referee assault measure
tabled

Senators are urged instead to create
task forces to study the issue of attacks
on sports officials

A bill that would stiffen the penalty for assaulting an athletic contest referee appears dead this session.

Senate Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa, who recommended that the assault bill be held in committee, asked colleagues to instead support the formation of two task forces to study the issues contained in the proposal and revisit it next year.

Senate Bill 1073 would have made assault of a referee or other athletic contest official a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. In minor assaults, a person is usually charged with a misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to a year in prison.

Hanabusa said the growing number of referee assaults in Hawaii and elsewhere appears to indicate a larger social problem of children not learning about sportsmanship early on.

"This is not something we can simply cure by making it a Class C felony," said Hanabusa (D, Nanakuli-Makua). "It's not our intent to make felons out of high school students."

Keith Amemiya, executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, said he was disappointed by the committee's decision, "but hope that the attention generated by the hearing and by the recent incident at Konawaena will serve as momentum going into next year's legislative session."

Amemiya was referring to a Feb. 9 incident in which Kainoa Abril, an 18-year-old Konawaena High School basketball player, charged at a referee after being ejected from a game.

Abril was dismissed from the team and barred from participating in any sports for the rest of this year. A police investigation is pending into criminal charges filed by referee Mason Souza.

"If a task force will help us achieve the ultimate goal of providing greater protection of our officials, then that's great," Amemiya said.

One task force would convene organizations such as the HHSAA, Department of Education, Oahu Interscholastic Association, Association of Youth Soccer Organizations and others to study the issue of violence against referees.

The second task force would study the issue of Class C felonies and whether other occupations should be afforded additional protection under the law. It already is a Class C felony to assault an education, corrections or law enforcement officer.