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House Speaker Souki will introduce bill to establish a legal market for businesses to cultivate and sell marijuana to adults 21 and older

ACLU

In October 2012 the ACLU of Hawaii initiated an open records request seeking the forms used in signing up patients for Hawaii’s Medical Marijuana Program. See the letter from the Department of Public Safety (and the forms) click here.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i Foundation (“ACLU”) has filed an amicus curiae brief (also known as a “friend of the court” brief) in United States District Court supporting the Constitutional rights of attorneys and their clients to speak privately, without monitoring and eavesdropping by prison personnel.The Corrections Corporation of America (“CCA”) is a for-profit company that has a Hawaii government contract worth roughly $60 million a year to house approximately 1,600 Hawaii prisoners on the mainland. CCA maintains a practice of having a guard stand right next to a prisoner when he speaks on the phone with his attorney(s) – a practice which violates the prison industry's own standards.  CCA says that this practice does not violate attorney-client privilege because – in their own words – “[a]ny conversation overheard is one-sided and only the inmate’s part of the conversation, not the attorney-client communications.”  In other words, because CCA personnel only listen to one side of the conversation, CCA claims to have not interfered with the attorney-client privilege.  CCA’s other proposed option is for prisoners to make their confidential attorney calls with other prisoners listening to the calls.  This practice poses constitutional concerns as well, and further violates American Bar Association guidelines concerning privacy in phone calls.  The ACLU contends the practice of requiring prisoners to reveal confidential information to other prisoners (or to prison staff) is both unconstitutional and a threat to public safety.CCA is under fire for its onerous cost, geographical isolation and its numerous civil rights violations. The new ACLU amicus brief comes in the context of a lawsuit by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (“NHLC”) against CCA for CCA’s interference with prisoners’ Hawaiian religious practices.  NHLC was forced to make a formal request to the court to prohibit CCA from monitoring their phone calls; a hearing on that motion is scheduled for November 8, 2012.Senior Staff Attorney Daniel Gluck said: "Due process includes the right to privacy in communications with legal counsel. Simply put, government officials are not allowed to eavesdrop on private conversations with your lawyer. When I personally visited the Saguaro facility in 2009 to meet with prisoners, a CCA lawyer expected to sit four feet away from my interview table and monitor my conversations. Hawaii officials, aware of the phone-monitoring practice, tried to justify it rather than correct it. CCA’s and the State of Hawaii’s disregard for this fundamental right is unacceptable."The amicus brief is offered in the case of Davis (et al.)  v. Abercrombie (et al.).

Read the Amicus BriefCivil rights advocates the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i Foundation (“ACLU”) and the law firm of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing ("AHFI") have asked the Hawaii district court for leave to file an amicus brief (also know as a "friend of the court" brief) in support of equal access to court proceedings by all journalists.The Hawaii Guerrilla Video Hui ("the Hui") states that its mission is to "document and share the stories of what is really happening in Hawaiʻi, especially in places where those abusing power meet those standing against that abuse." The Hui is comprised of Kamuela Vance Viveiros, H. Doug Matsuoka, and Laulani Teale.  Mr. Kamuela is a long-time Olelo producer, and his documentary, Kalo Culture, will be premiering at the Hawaii International Film Festival this year.  The Hui was also recently awarded a grant from The Hawaii People's Fund and The Kim Coco Iwamoto Fund for Social Justice to continue coverage of frontline social justice activities, and has covered courtroom proceedings in the past.The Hui filed an application to document the proceedings in a Hawaii District Court case involving a Hawaiian rights activist fighting a disorderly conduct charge; that application was granted by the Honorable Dean E. Ochiai, but a different judge presiding over the criminal trial ordered Judge Ochiai to reconsider that application based on her belief – which she did not fully explain – that the application may not have been “providently granted.”  The ACLU’s proposed amicus brief discusses the importance of equal access to courtroom proceedings, and asks the Court to base the grant or denial of the Hui’s application on court rules (and not on the Hui’s viewpoint or editorial stance).In submitting the proposed amicus brief, AHFI attorney Brandon Segal said:  "A diverse and free press is a cornerstone of our Constitution, and all voices must be treated equally by the government."ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Daniel Gluck concurred: "Judges have discretion in when and how to allow journalists into their courtroom, but once it is granted, they cannot discriminate.  We want to make sure that all journalists, regardless of viewpoint and regardless of whether they are part of a traditional or 'alternative' media organization, receive equal access."The case has a hearing scheduled for October 17, 2012 at 1:30 p.m.

A federal district court judge ruled in favor of the ACLU of Hawaii’s clients today, ordering the State of Hawaii to allow incarcerated people to marry their fiancés.