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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, November 9, 2003

Public input sought on meeting increasing load of Supreme Court

By Bert T. Kobayashi Jr.

One of the primary goals of the American Judicature Society is the promotion of justice. Toward that end, the local chapter, under the director of its president, Judge James Burns, has appointed committees to explore, investigate and opine on topics that the Hawai'i chapter believed would advance the interests of justice in this community.

KOBAYASHI
One such effort involved reviewing a practice of the Hawai'i Supreme Court forced by the explosive expansion of litigation without a concomitant increase in resources allocated to the court.

Under review was the increase in unpublished "memorandum" opinions and summary disposition orders issued by the court. Such opinions and orders, under most circumstances, cannot be relied upon by the community and practicing attorneys as precedent for pending similar cases.

Therefore, the Hawaii chapter appointed a committee on February 2, 2001, to: "... review the critical issue of the role of unpublished opinions in our judicial decision-making process and to make appropriate recommendations."

The members appointed to this committee reflected the mix of Hawai'i chapter members, including judges, lay people and practicing members of the bar.

The final result was a written recommendation that included these key points: (a) the Hawai'i chapter will support any legislative effort to increase the number of appellate judges; (b) the appellate courts are advised to provide some explanation or rationale, however brief, for their decisions, particularly as to criminal decisions that affect habeas-corpus situations, and (c) the bar be given a limited ability to cite unpublished memorandum opinions.

The Hawai'i Supreme Court has asked for public input on the report. After such input is received, it is the court's intent to consider whether any of the recommendations are to be accepted.

Bert Kobayashi is senior partner of Kobayashi, Sugita & Goda, and chairman, AJS Committee on Unpublished Opinions.