Deal lets voters decide on access to sex-offender data
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Hawai'i voters would be able to decide whether information about some convicted sex offenders should be readily available to the public, under a compromise agreement announced yesterday by lawmakers and state Attorney General Mark Bennett.
The new draft of Senate Bill 2843, which won preliminary approval in the House yesterday, proposes a constitutional amendment that would pave the way for quicker public access to sex-offender registration information. The amendment allows lawmakers to decide what kinds of sex offenders would be put on a public registry and whether some should get a hearing beforehand. It would also allow offenders on the public list to petition to be removed.
Bennett said if voters approve the constitutional amendment in November, sex-offender registration information could be posted on the state's Web site as soon as the Legislature establishes procedures for public access next session.
In the meantime, Bennett said, he and county prosecutors will be working to place individual sex offenders on the public registry by proceeding with hearings required under the current system.
The hearings process, a result of a 2001 state Supreme Court decision, is meant to give offenders a chance to prove they are not dangerous to avoid being placed on the list.
"We are going to have hearings so there will be at least individual names up on the registry to the extent that judges grant our motion to allow that," Bennett said, adding that at least one request for a hearing has been filed.
The compromise announced yesterday follows a House Judiciary Committee decision last week to preserve the hearings process that is currently required. Bennett and legislative leaders worked out a compromise over the weekend and the House majority offered floor amendments yesterday to reflect the agreement.
"Our main concern, for both of us, was getting this registry up and running, and I think the agreement that we struck is going to do that," said House Judiciary Chairman Eric Hamakawa, D-3rd (Hilo, Kea'au, Mt. View).
There are about 1,900 registered sex offenders in Hawai'i, Bennett said. As part of the compromise, the House also amended a bill to establish a task force made up of lawyers, victim advocates and others to review offender registry practices in other states and recommend a system to the Legislature next year.
The state had listed sex offenders' names, photos and personal information on the Internet but took down the Web site after the Hawai'i Supreme Court struck down a key portion of the law, known as Megan's law, named after 7-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was kidnapped, raped and killed in 1994 by a convicted sex criminal. The high court ruled it was unconstitutional because it didn't provide for hearings to let offenders show they are no longer a danger to society.
Lawmakers and Bennett also reached an agreement on Senate Bill 2846, which was aimed at protecting sex-assault victim's rights. The new draft of the bill proposes a constitutional amendment allowing the Legislature to bar at trial the admission of privileged communications between a crime victim and the victim's physician, psychologist, counselor or licensed mental-health professional.
The full House will vote on these measures tomorrow before sending them back to the Senate.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
