The Hawai'i Supreme Court struck down one of four proposed constitutional amendments overwhelmingly ratified by voters last year.

The court ruled yesterday that the legislative process that placed the proposal on the ballot violated the state constitution.

The amendment was aimed at making it easier for the prosecution to get a conviction and a stiffer sentence for accused repeat sexual offenders of children under 14, and was approved by about 282,000 of the 430,000 ballots.

But in the unanimous decision written by Associate Justice Simeon Acoba, the high court ruled that the bill proposing the amendment did not go through the proper legislative hearing process and was a violation of the state constitution.

In addition, the title of the bill did not reflect that it intended to change the constitution.

Lois Perrin, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i that represented 38 registered voters who challenged the amendment, said she was "absolutely thrilled" by the decision. She said it reaffirms the meaning and importance of the state constitution.

Perrin said the ruling's message is that the public should be given an opportunity at the legislature to comment and think about proposed changes to the constitution.

"It's not supposed to be a rush to judgment," she said. "And this is what it was. It was inserted (in a pending bill) at the 11th hour after opportunity for comment had passed."

The bill initially was a proposal to amend a state statute. It was proposed in response to a 2003 Hawai'i Supreme Court decision that ruled the statute on repeat offenders violated a defendant's constitutional rights to a unanimous jury.

The law permitted a conviction based on a jury finding that a defendant committed at least three sexual assaults on the child victim, but did not require the jury to make separate unanimous findings on the specific assaults.

After the bill went through the House of Representatives and the first of three readings in the state Senate, it was changed to a proposal for a constitutional amendment to essentially negate the 2003 ruling.

At that point, the public hearing process was over, volunteer ACLU attorney Earle Partington said. "The public was deprived of all input on this," he said.

Jim Fulton, spokesman for the city prosecutor's office, said yesterday's decision won't affect any pending cases because he doesn't think anyone has been charged under the constitutional amendment.

Attorney General Mark Bennett, a staunch proponent of the amendment, was out of town and not available for comment.

Bridget Palmer Holthus, special assistant to the attorney general, said the office was reviewing the decision, but said it was disappointed by the ruling. She said she thinks the state Legislature, which approved the measure unanimously, as well as the voters will be "very disappointed."

"In effect, the decision invalidates the will of 66 percent of Hawai'i voters," she said.

But the court said because of the way the proposal was adopted, "the general public had no opportunity to provide comment in the legislature on the proposed amendment itself."

That procedure eliminated the "mature deliberation, amendment and compromise usually necessary to produce sound and lasting legislation" as contemplated by the framers of the constitution, the court said.

The court said it is "imperative" that the bill's title reflect it proposes to change the constitution. The other three amendments went through the legislature with the proper titles and they received more written testimony than the one struck down, the court said.

The decision does not preclude state lawmakers from passing legislation next year to place the same issue on the general election ballot in 2006.

The court also granted attorney fees and costs, which the state must pay, to the ACLU. Perrin said it will be at least $50,000.

The other three amendments approved by voters were aimed at making the Megan's Law sex offender registry public; protecting the confidentiality of statements by crime victims to counselors; and permitting prosecutors to send felony cases to trial by submitting written reports to a judge.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.