EDITORIAL
Dropping chalk protest charges the right idea

The city prosecutor's office made the right call this week when it decided not to prosecute two people who wrote anti-war statements in chalk on a downtown sidewalk.

The two participated in a demonstration organized by Not In Our Name-Hawai'i against weapons of mass destruction. As part of that demonstration, they drew chalk outlines of nuclear "victims" and scribbled anti-war slogans.

The official reason for dismissing the charges was insufficient evidence: There was not information about the kind of substance used to write the message. If it had been permanent, the prosecutor said, a case might have proceeded.

So that was the reason why this case has gone away. But it also sends a message that respectable and responsive free speech will be given fair latitude in Honolulu. That's an important message to send.