Bill to cut high court backlog faces opposition

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

A proposal to increase the responsibilities of the state's second highest court, ostensibly to free the Hawai'i Supreme Court to deal with its caseload, is meeting resistance at the state Legislature.

The House Judiciary Committee yesterday deferred action on the measure that would give the Intermediate Court of Appeals more responsibility, although committee Vice Chairman Blake Oshiro said it will likely take up the bill again in the coming weeks.

Currently, all appeals go directly to the Supreme Court, which assigns them either to itself or the appeals court. House Bill 2301, which is part of the state Judiciary's package, would send all cases to the appeals court. But requests by any party in the appeal asking that the high court hear the case would be decided by the appeals court.

Jim Branham, court staff attorney for the Supreme Court, said the current system is inefficient because judicial, professional and clerical staff at the high court are devoting a substantial amount of time toward reviewing where appeals should be assigned.

But state Public Defender Jack Tonaki opposed the bill and said that even with the impending increase in Intermediate Court judges from four to six this year, the bill may end up having the opposite effect of its intent. A job now being done by five Supreme Court justices and four intermediate court judges would have to be done by the six ICA judges, he said.

Attorney James Bickerton, who chaired the Hawaii State Bar Association's Special Committee on Appellate Issues, said the change would effectively reduce a citizen's access to the Supreme Court by eliminating what now essentially amounts to "an automatic right" to at least an initial screening by a high court justice.

Bickerton urged lawmakers to delay making further changes until they have had a chance to review the impact of having two more Intermediate Court of Appeals judges available to help with the caseload.

Attorney General Mark Bennett said the bill "should receive serious consideration" but that lawmakers should look at related issues, such as whether the shift in responsibilities would create an unfair burden on the intermediate court's staffing.

The Judiciary Committee also deferred House Bill 1751, which would set time limits for the Hawai'i Supreme Court and the Intermediate Court of Appeals to decide civil appeals.

Bennett said he believes that the bill could be unconstitutional and a possible violation of the separation of powers. But Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-50th (Kailua, Mokapu), who introduced the bill, said a 1967 opinion appears to say that rulemaking for the courts is not exclusively within the purview of the Judiciary.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.