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Megan’s Law rules
address public fears

THE ISSUE Rules governing a Web registry of convicted sex offenders have won legislators' approval.

LEGISLATORS have agreed on a measure supported by the Lingle administration that will increase the number of convicted sex offenders exposed on the state's online registry. The registry may seem like the modern-day equivalent of the stocks used to restrain criminals in the town squares of colonial America, except that the purpose is not to shame the offender but to protect the public.

The state Supreme Court ruled four years ago that a convicted offender deserves a court hearing to challenge having his name, photo, home and work addresses and past offenses being posted on the Internet. Voters last year approved a constitutional amendment allowing the Legislature to fashion ground rules for such postings.

The issue was heightened in recent weeks by the kidnapping and slayings of two Florida girls. A man charged in one of the cases had been included in Florida's sexual offense registry but had neglected to tell authorities that he had moved. Likewise, a convicted sex offender failed to update his address near the home of an 85-year-old Kaimuki woman he is accused of raping in March.

All 50 states have "Megan's Law" registries named after a 1994 rape and murder victim in New Jersey. A survey has determined that nearly one-fourth of the nation's sex offenders are not in compliance with the registration requirements.

The bill nearing enactment in the Hawaii Legislature would require offenders of Classes A and B sex felonies to be posted on the online registry for 10 to 25 years, depending on the seriousness of the crime, before being allowed civil hearings to challenge their inclusion. Class C felony and misdemeanor offenders would be registered at police stations but not be displayed on the Internet.

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Put UH in charge
of Aloha Stadium

THE ISSUE The Aloha Stadium Authority has agreed to negotiate its rental agreement with the University of Hawaii.

THE Aloha Stadium Authority has taken the first step toward being able to lower the rent paid by the University of Hawaii for hosting its football games. The lengthy process will further prolong a bureaucracy that should be eliminated so the stadium can be properly placed under the management of the university.

The long-standing proposal to put UH in charge of Aloha Stadium seemed to have broad support in the Legislature several years ago, but common sense has not prevailed. Instead, the absurd transfer of money from one state agency to another in the form of rent and expenses will continue.

The university now transfers to the Stadium Authority 7 1/2 percent of the total receipts from its home football games, which came to $320,065 last season, in addition to $554,114 in operating expenses. A delay in transfer of most of the rental money resulted in the laying off of 49 part-time stadium workers.

A measure approved by the Stadium Authority would enable it to negotiate the amount of state funds being transferred, now set by state law. The change must be approved by several state agencies and Governor Lingle.

The stadium is provided free to high schools and the Pro Bowl, for good reasons. The cash-strapped schools are part of the state government, and the Pro Bowl lures visitors to the state; they spent $29.5 million last year, generating $2.84 million in state taxes. That should not change.

However, as Marcia Klompus said after being appointed to the authority in March, it always has been "abundantly clear that the stadium was built for the university." And as Anthony Guerrero, the authority's chairman, said last week: "We've got one stadium. We've got one college. We've got one football team. We should be one."

Precisely. That is why stadium manager Eddie Hayashi's argument in February against legislation that would give UH control of the stadium, that "the stadium is more than a simple venue for UH athletics," was nothing more than bureaucratic entrenchment.

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