Carlisle agreed.

"They are ideas whose time has come, and it restores a necessary balance in the criminal justice system," he said.

Opponents weren't surprised.

"Those who were supporting and sponsoring these amendments were well financed, well organized and they were able to recast the labels for the amendments in ways that misled the voters in some respects," said noted Honolulu criminal defense attorney Brook Hart.

Three of the proposed amendments were in response to Hawai'i Supreme Court decisions during the past three years.

The proposals drew heated debate in the legal community. Supporters contended that they restore rights to victims and free police from court hearings to be in the community to deter crimes and make the Islands safer.

But opponents warned that they set a dangerous precedent of stripping the courts of their role of reviewing laws to ensure that civil rights are protected.

Supporters included law enforcement officials, including police and prosecutors, while opponents included criminal defense lawyers and civil-rights advocates.

To be approved, the amendments needed more "yes" than "no" and blank ballots combined.

The amendments approved were:

• Direct filing. The amendment proposal passed in 2002, but the Hawai'i Supreme Court struck it down earlier this year, ruling that the state did not properly notify the public about how the procedure works. The amendment authorizes state lawmakers to allow city and county prosecutors to send felony cases to trial by submitting written reports to a judge. The new method, called direct filing or information charging, would be in addition to prosecutors sending cases to trial with a grand jury indictment or a judge's ruling at a preliminary hearing.

• Megan's Law. The amendment is in response to a 2001 Hawai'i Supreme Court decision that ruled sex offenders should be given a hearing to explain why their work and home addresses and photographs should not be made public. The amendment gives the Legislature the authority to determine who should get those hearings.

• Continuing sex assault law. The amendment essentially restores a state law that carries a maximum 20-year prison term for offenders who sexually assault or molest children under age 14 three or more times. The law required juries to unanimously find that at least three offenses occurred. In a 3-2 decision last year, the high court held that the law violates defendants' rights because juries do not have to unanimously agree on the specific acts.

• Confidentiality. The amendment deals with the confidentiality of victims' statements to counselors. In 2003, the high court ruled that a man accused of molesting a girl should have had the chance to ask her about whether she told a counselor that the offense never happened.

Supporters say the amendment would help keep those statements confidential, but opponents argue that state law already provides for confidentiality unless they conflict with defendants' rights.

City charter

Three of four amendments to the Honolulu City Charter were approved yesterday, but O'ahu voters rejected the proposal to place employees of the Neighborhood Commission, other than the executive secretary, in civil service.

The three that were approved require at least five of the nine appointees to the advisory Neighborhood Commission to be former members of a neighborhood board; allow the City Council to appoint a temporary replacement for a council member called to active duty out of state for a half-year or more; and require meetings of a City Charter Commission to be held every 10 years after a year ending in the numeral 4.