News & Commentary

Meanwhile, other states have imposed strict rules for bail enforcement agents.

The CORE program was started in 2021 and has changed its focus repeatedly since then, confounding efforts to gauge its effectiveness.

Supreme Court protects birthright citizenship but allows states to restrict trans athletes, while Hawaii’s protections remain in place.

Justices weigh whether refusing a voluntary roadside test can be used as evidence of guilt

Mandy Fernandes discusses ACLU-HI’s fight for immigrant rights, healthcare access, bail reform, and reimagining public safety.

Hawaii officials say they plan to follow state law requiring mail-in voting this year while lawsuits proceed over President Donald Trump’s executive order that critics say would give the federal government unprecedented control over U.S. elections despite the Constitution’s guarantee that Congress and each state hold that authority.

At year’s start, overreach by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) armed agents across the country spurred Hawaii, and many other states, to introduce legislation to try to curb federal excesses. Today, the visible outrage that erupted after Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed in Minnesota has subsided some, but the need remains for sturdy rule-of-law safeguards.

On April 14, 16 state senators voted no on House Bill 2413, in doing so preserving a system where freedom before trial depends not on whether a person is dangerous or whether they’ll return to court, but whether they can buy their way out of jail.

Some 20,000 residents attended “No Dictators” protests in the islands over the weekend. Chief among their concerns were the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies and its handling of the war in Iran.