Amendments called aids to enforcement
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
State Attorney General Mark Bennett yesterday called for public support of four proposed constitutional amendments he said would help victims and protect the community.
Gov. Linda Lingle also signed into law three law-enforcement related bills, including one requiring those convicted of child pornography offenses to register as sex offenders.
"We have to recognize that simply passing tougher laws is not in itself the answer to helping victims of crime and putting victims first," Attorney General Mark Bennett said.
"We have to recognize that simply passing tougher laws is not in itself the answer to helping victims of crime and putting victims first," Bennett said.
The state public defender's office, however, said most of the constitutional amendments address only specific cases and lead to an erosion of constitutional rights.
The four proposed constitutional amendments will appear on this year's General Election ballot in November. One, dubbed "Megan's Amendment," would ask voters whether the constitution should be changed to ensure the public's access to personal information about certain convicted sex offenders and let the Legislature draw guidelines for such access. It would also allow offenders on the public list to petition to be removed.
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.
Other proposed constitutional amendments would:
- Allow the Legislature to make inadmissible at trial any privileged confidential communications between alleged crime victims and their physician, psychologist, counselor or licensed mental health professional.
- Allow the Legislature to define sexual assault of a minor under 14 as three or more acts that a jury believes occurred, regardless of whether the child can recall the specific dates and incidents.
- Allow the court to order a defendant to stand trial on certain felony charges based on reports and statements from prosecutors, also known as "information charging." Currently, defendants must stand trial on felony charges only if a judge at a preliminary hearing or a grand jury returns an indictment that finds the defendant probably committed the crime.
Lingle signed underlying legislation yesterday to implement information charging should voters ratify the constitutional amendment. Under the legislation, a defendant could be charged on certain felony offenses based on written reports to a state judge, but would be able to contest that charge and receive a hearing.
Voters ratified the amendment in 2002, but the Hawai'i Supreme Court this year ruled that the process was flawed because the state did not adequately inform voters about the proposed amendment.
Bennett said all amendments need to pass "or we're going to be back to square one."
But state Public Defender John Tonaki said while he is not opposed to the information charging legislation, the other constitutional amendments are unnecessary. "The constitution stands for broad protections and principles," he said. "Once you start passing these exceptions to what the general rule is then it becomes a vehicle in which to erode people's rights."
Lingle yesterday also signed into law a bill that defines "sexual penetration" to make it possible to charge individuals with the greater offense of sexual penetration rather than the lesser offense of sexual contact.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
