Judge strikes down law on visiting grandkids
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — A Hilo Family Court judge has ruled that a state law allowing grandparents to seek court-ordered visitation with their grandchildren is unconstitutional.
The decision could affect other grandparents in Hawai'i, where extended families are an important social and cultural institution, said Elizabeth Croom, the lawyer for a Big Island couple who sought visitation with their grandson after they became estranged from their daughter Angela May Higashi.
"It just puts grandparents in a pickle right now," Croom said.
Patrick Higashi, whose request to see his 7-year-old grandson sparked the ruling, said he plans to appeal the Feb. 27 decision by Family Court Judge William S. Chillingworth and will ask state lawmakers to rewrite the law so grandparents can again ask courts to grant them visitation rights.
"This is ridiculous," Higashi said. "I mean, in Hawai'i of all places, where 'ohana is supposed to be so important, a grandparent can't see their own grandkids? It's almost ludicrous to me."
Angela May Higashi and her lawyer could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Hawai'i law says grandparents may petition the court for visitation rights, and the court may award reasonable visitation rights provided that visitation is in the best interest of the child.
Chillingworth ruled the 1993 law is unconstitutional, based on an earlier U.S. Supreme Court case in which a visitation law in Washington state was rejected because it infringed on the rights of parents to make decisions on "the custody, care and control of their children."
In particular, the high court found that in visitation disputes, a "special weight" must be placed on the parents' wishes and decisions, and the Washington law and courts failed to do so.
Patrick Higashi said he and his wife, Karin, became concerned about their grandson's safety and well-being eight months ago. Their daughter refused to discuss the matter and put a stop to the boy's visits with the grandparents, he said.
The Higashis made a report to state Child Welfare Services and started going to his school "because that was the only place we could see him and make sure he was OK," Higashi said. Later the school visits were cut off.
The couple petitioned the court to grant them visitation rights.
Senior Family Court Judge Frances Wong of Honolulu said grandparents seek visitation rights in only a "handful" of instances among the thousands of paternity, divorce and juvenile cases in Family Court.
Wong said it usually happens when there are disputes between the parents or between the grandparents and the parents. Judges normally try to persuade the family members to work it out among themselves, she said.
Reach Kevin Dayton at (808) 935-3916 or kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.
