House Bill 354 and its companion measure Senate Bill 44 would remove the offense of criminal trespass that applies to people who enter or remain unlawfully on public property.

Passed last year, Act 50 was hailed as the tool that would give authorities the power to ban squatters from public beaches. But the law has earned Hawai'i the title as one of the meanest states to the homeless. Opponents say the act and other types of enforcement unfairly hassle down-and-out people who are trying to improve their lives.

"We're not criminals," said John Abts, a homeless man who sometimes stays at Swanzy Beach Park. "What's happening is people who are trying to get ahead are being beaten down."

Abts acknowledged that there are criminals among the homeless, but he said many homeless people like himself are employed, trying to get ahead but unable to cope with Hawai'i's high housing costs.

However, residents who feel threatened by some of the homeless want a law on the books that enables police to remove homeless campers from the parks.

Act 50 was an attempt by Sen. Robert Bunda, D-22nd (North Shore, Wahiawa), to address chronic trespassing at Mokule'ia on the North Shore, where squatters have taken over some beach areas.

Bunda said he would oppose the proposed change because it leaves government no recourse in removing squatters from public parks.

"These people claim that this public property is theirs," he said. "If we sanction them being there, does that mean they can roam from park to park and other people can say OK this is my home?"

Bunda said the squatters in Mokule'ia are different from other homeless and intimidate park users, while taxpayers foot the bill for upkeep of the property. Mokule'ia residents supported the measure, and he said he hopes legislators listen to them.

Rep. Helene Hale, D-4th (Puna), said she wants a hearing on the measure because public beaches belong to everyone and the possibility that someone could be unduly denied access must be guarded against.

"Until we solve the homeless problem, we've got to have some place for these people to go," Hale said, adding that she was not aware of the issues at Mokule'ia. "We have people on the beach on the Big Island, too. It's a very deep problem, and just to kick them from one place to another is no solution."

At one time, homeless people in Mokule'ia had community sympathy and support. But now residents fear some of the homeless who they've seen carrying weapons, being chased by police or casing their neighborhoods, said Lloyd O'Sullivan, a North Shore Neighborhood Board member and Mokule'ia resident.

"This is really scary now," O'Sullivan said, adding that the community for years had asked for a law that would help police keep squatters away.

"We're not heartless, but when the homeless turned into a threat we had to do something," he said.

But Act 50 goes too far, said Ron Valenciana, a homeless advocate who holds a monthly service for the homeless at Hale'iwa Beach Park. "It's just another way of harassment, of making their lives more miserable without the state providing the means of helping."

Last year, the National Coalition for the Homeless tagged Hawai'i the third-meanest state, and Honolulu the ninth-meanest city, nationally, in terms of how the homeless are treated here.

Even though Act 50 has been on the books for eight months, the police rarely use the law as a basis for enforcement, said Michelle Yu, police spokeswoman. "Police have issued a few citations under Act 50 but have not made any arrests," Yu said.

Instead police are issuing citations for illegal camping, camping without a permit, parking after closure and living in vehicles, said Maj. Susan Dowsett, Windward District commander.

Complaints from the mayor's office and neighborhood boards have called for stepped up enforcement, but Dowsett couldn't say how many complaints police have received.

Generally, people are compliant and move on after a warning or citation, making it unnecessary to use Act 50, she said.

However a security guard at the State Library used the act to ban a man from the library for a year after he used a library computer to visit a gay Web site's chat room.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i is representing the man, and a hearing on the case is set for Feb. 14 before U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor.

"There's been a lot of outcry about the law because it's been misused," said Lois Perrin, legal director for the ACLU.

The ACLU contends that the law undermines constitutionally protected speech and activities. Perrin has said the law is "impermissibly vague" because it doesn't define what kind of conduct would justify officials banning someone from public property.

O'Sullivan and Michael Dailey, with the Mokule'ia Community Association, said they would not mind if the law were amended as long as police can address the situation in Mokule'ia. The association supported Act 50 to give police more clout, Dailey said.

"I'm not opposed to an amendment that makes it more finely tuned and appropriate," he said. "Maybe it should be kept to beach parks or park land. That would be reasonable."

State Rep. Cynthia Thielen, one of 15 state representatives to sign Bill 354, said if the point was to address squatters at Mokule'ia then the language of the act should have been narrower.

"I don't want the government to be able to use it to hassle the homeless," said Thielen, R-50th (Kailua, Mokapu). "It's a different situation at Mokule'ia."