Pace of Harris appeal unclear

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

Just how quickly the Hawai'i Supreme Court will take up a Circuit Court judge's ruling that stopped Mayor Jeremy Harris' gubernatorial campaign dead in its tracks on Monday will depend on how quickly lawyers for the two sides can get ready for the high court showdown.

And it will also depend largely on how willing the Supreme Court justices are to hear Harris' appeal on an "expedited basis," allowing it to be heard before the 900 or so cases pending appeal before the Hawai'i Intermediate Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court, a spokeswoman for the state judiciary said yesterday.

Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna stunned the Harris camp when she ruled that an amendment to the state constitution ratified by Hawai'i voters in 1978 requires candidates who hold elective office and plan to run for another office to resign if there the two terms overlap.

Political candidates have operated on the assumption that they need not resign until they file official papers declaring themselves candidates for another elective office.

In Harris' case, the deadline to file papers for the governor's race is July 23. But according to McKenna's ruling, Harris should have resigned from his job as Honolulu mayor when he filed an organizational report with the state Campaign Spending Commission on May 15, 2001.

The court challenge of Harris' continuing to serve as mayor was brought by Russell Blair, a former state District Court judge and a former state senator. Blair said he was peeved that Harris was just 98 days into a new term of office as mayor last year when he publicly announced his plans to run for governor.

At a press conference Tuesday, Harris said he would ask McKenna for a "stay" on enforcing her decision so that his attorneys could appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. Blair's attorney, William Deeley, said he would not object to the stay or to an expedited appeal before the high court.

Deeley said the final judgment and the order to stay McKenna's ruling will likely be filed in Circuit Court sometime today.

Then the parties can prepare their request asking the Supreme Court to consider the matter and to expedite their handling of the case, said state judiciary spokeswoman Marsha Kitagawa. She said lawyers for the two sides will probably have to spend a significant amount of time explaining to the high court justices why the case merits special treatment.

In general, such case can be heard by the Supreme Court as soon as the two sides agree they are ready to present their cases and the Supreme Court justices indicate they are ready to hear the matter, Kitagawa said.

Meanwhile yesterday, Gov. Ben Cayetano said he doesn't understand why Harris has suspended his campaign while appealing McKenna's ruling.

Cayetano told reporters that putting a hold on the campaign while awaiting the result of an appeal to the Hawai'i Supreme Court "is not something that I would do, especially if I think I'm right."

Advertiser staff writer Robbie Dingeman contributed to this report.