Assignment #7

(Source: http://www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv9876.php)

The State of Hawaii appoints supreme court judges for life of uses reappointment of some sort for the higher level courts. The State of Hawaii also does the same thing for intermediate appellate courts and trial courts as well. All three types give life tenure. “Tenure” refers to a position or office that is held for the person if the past the trial of the position they are applying for (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). In other words, an individual can hold the high position of the Supreme Court job until he/she wishes to retire. Most times the individual decides to keep the job until it’s impossible for them to perform their duties. Just like selecting a council member of the Supreme Court System, Hawaii uses lifetime tenure for their Trial Court Judges and Intermediate Appellate Court Judges.
For example, in Hawaii’s Supreme Court System, the Chief Justice is Ronald Moon, who was sworn into the Supreme Court System in March of 1993. There he is supported by his fellow Justice Associates Simeon Acoba Jr., who was sworn in May 2000 after serving as a judge of the Intermediate Court for 6 years; James Duffy Jr., sworn in June 2003; Paula Nakayama, the first woman as a Supreme Court Justice member in 26 years, being sworn into office April 1993; and Mark Recktenwald who was recently sworn into office this past May (Hawai’I Sate Judiciary).
Appointing a judge based on popular opinion allows for the people to choose who runs their court system and the people will not be as mad at the selection because they chose who was appointed. The problem with popular opinion dictating who is appointed is that the judge who gets appointed may not necessarily be the best judge for the job. Popular voting can be skewed by the public. A well liked individual running for office may have the support from other individuals or Corporations who donate tons of money for the campaigns. The catchier the campaign, and signs are, the more people would notice that person. Although a person’s admired by the voters, it doesn’t guarantee that the person running for office will do his/her duty or the duties that he/she promised those who votes for them. It is common for a lot of people to make promises to the community in doing things to make it a better place, but when they win that office they ran for, they don’t fulfill that promise.
In Hawaii the Supreme court has 5 justices en banc. The supreme court has mandatory jurisdiction in civil, criminal, administrative agency, juvenile, disciplinary, certified questions from federal courts, and original proceeding cases. They have discretionary jurisdiction in civil, criminal, administrative agency, juvenile, original proceeding, and interlocutory decision cases.
Some cases are assigned to the Intermediate Court of Appeals. That courts has mandatory jurisdiction in civil, criminal, administrative agency, juvenile, interlocutory and decision cases assigned by the supreme court. They have no discretionary jurisdiction though.
The circuit/family court is more robust and on 4 circuits. It employs 33 circuit judges. 4 are specially assigned for family court proceedings and there are 14 district level family court judges. This level handles tort contract, real property, and miscellaneous civil cases. This level doesn't cover mental health, probate/estate, administrative agency appeals, domestic relations, juvenile, or traffic infractions.
The District courts is on 4 circuits and uses 22 judges with no jury trials. This level handles tort contract, real property, and miscellaneous civil cases exclusive up to $3,500. There are preliminary and misdemeanor hearings as well as hearings for traffic infractions, parking, and ordinance violations. This court is for smaller scale claims/cases.

There are 4 types of court systems in Hawaii. The lowest form is District court followed by Family court then the Court of Appeals, and finally the Hawaii Supreme Court. District court consists of 22 judges which decide the outcome of the cases because there are no jury trials
in District court. The case assignments are contract cases involving anywhere between $0 and $20,000. There are some civil cases pleaded in this court, and some can be as low as $3,500.
Family Court is the next step in the court system. There are 33 circuit judges and 14 district family court judges. These courts handle contract and property cases like district court however a much wider range when it comes to the money issue. Family court can handle cases involving $10,000 and up. Their exclusive cases that only they handle are juvenile, domestic violence, probate, mental health, and administrative agency appeals.
The next highest court is the Intermediate Court of Appeals. This court handles cases that can be passed to the Supreme Court. They take the cases that have not had a prior suit, but have questions of law that could have civil action involved. These case types are civil, criminal, administrative agency, and juvenile. Also the Intermediate Court of Appeals does not have discretionary jurisdiction therefore they must entertain every case filed. The link to the Intermediate Court of Appeals is http://tinyurl.com/yzxmmx5.
The final and highest court is the Hawaii Supreme Court. This court includes 5 judges that assign cases to the Intermediate Court of Appeals. They entertain the same types of cases that the Intermediate Court of Appeals does, but they have discretionary jurisdiction on all of those cases meaning they can choose which cases they want to hear. They also hear cases formally appealed cases from the Intermediate Court of Appeals. They can also hear cases involving certain questions from lower courts, certain questions of law from federal courts, complaints on elections, and the discipline judges. The link to the Hawaii Supreme Court is http://tinyurl.com/25w86k.

In Mililani, Hawaii, a felony arrest was made against a 22-year old man. The nature of the felony was first degree terroristic threatening and carrying a deadly weapon, after the 22-year old threatened a 45-year old man in a dispute over a parking spot. The crime occurred specifically at the Mililani Town Center. Due to the fact that this arrest was made on felony charges, this case will likely be heard by a Court of General Jurisdiction.

On Oct. 21 three excessive speeding cases were dismissed by a state appeals court, the Intermediate Court of Appeals, due to the recent ruling of the Hawaii’s Supreme Court regarding laser-gun readings of the offenders’ speed. These appeals were made on the grounds that the readings of said laser-guns weren’t adequately proven to be accurate. What is interesting about these dismissals is that they were predicted, shortly after the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling, by Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle.

References:

Advertiser Staff, . (2009, October 26). Parking stall argument in mililani leads to felony arrest. Retrieved from http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20091026/BREAKING01/91026047/Parking+stall+argument+in+Mililani+leads+to+felony+arrest

Dooley, J. (2009, October 22). More Hawaii speeding cases overturned on laser-gun issue. Retrieved from http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910220360

Fact sheet on judicial selection methods in the states. (2002, September 9). Retrieved October 23, 2009, from The American Bar Association website: http://www.abanet.org/leadership/fact_sheet.pdf

tenure. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.Retrieved October 26, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenure

Hawaii Supreme Court
Supreme court of Hawaii. (2009, October 24). Retrieved October 24, 2009, from Hawai'i State Judiciary website: http://www.courts.state.hi.us/page_server/Courts/Supreme/72D2460755E8199BEBD3ACE8C3.html

Hawaii Appellate Court
Appellate court of Hawai'i. (2009, October 24). Retrieved October 24, 2009, from Hawai'i State Judiciary website: http://www.courts.state.hi.us/page_server/Courts/Appeals/4942E2685D7AF75AEBD824637E.html

Hawaii Circuit/District Court
Hawai'i Third Circuit. (2009, October 24). Retrieved October 24, 2009, from Hawai'i State Judiciary website: http://www.courts.state.hi.us/page_server/GenInfo/Contact/36331383F1BEADEAE9DB7361C7.html

Hawai'i court structure as of fiscal year 2007. (2009, October 24). Retrieved October 24, 2009 from NCSC: Research website: http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/Ct_Struct/state_inc.asp?STATE=HI

Assignment 6

We don’t agree with Justice Breyer’s opinion. We think that finding evidence is instinct for police and the exclusionary rule will not deter them from doing what they think is right. The article is about all the different countries version of the exclusionary rule. The U.S. has one of the toughest, but a lot of people in the country support the rule. Also there are people that feel it is necessary, but needs to be rewritten to fit today’s society. Justice Scalia said, “The exclusionary rule had outlived its original purpose.” Evidence found illegally should not be used. Other countries let the judge decide if evidence can be used. We are the only country that does not let any of the evidence be used in the case. We think that we do not need the exclusionary rule. Evidence should be used to get criminals off the street no matter how it was found. Police are supposed to protect the people, but how can they do that when finding things illegally is always in the back of their minds. Criminals choose to break the law and should not have any rights. The police are getting punished for taking criminals off the street and must needs to stop. The police are doing their jobs.

In the case the State of Hawaii v. Lenee Propios police searched Lenee for cocaine possession as well as her house. She was on probation for a previous conviction of misuse of drug paraphernalia. Her probation officer was conducting interviews with her on a monthly basis as well as drug tests. The hope was Lenee was going to stop using drugs.
Her first interview Lenee admitted to using cocaine and marijuana. She also tested positive for both substances. Her second interview started leading towards the hint of a search. She said she was struggling staying off of drugs because she was still living with her boyfriend. Her probation officer took this as the boy friend was supplying her with the drugs. The probation officer suggested that if she tested positive, which she did, that they would do a strip search of her during her next interview. They also searched her residents where her boy friend, the drug dealer, was living. They swept through the house and took pictures. All of this was done without securing a warrant. (http://hi.findacase.com/, 2)
According to Hawaii state law a probation officer can consent her parolee to a warrantless search as long as there is reasonableness. Parolees do have a right to privacy, but can be searched without a warrant. I would consider this a crime committed in the presence of an officer type search. The officer knew Lenee was doing cocaine so that gave her the consent to search. The reasonableness in this case comes from the fact Lenee’s boy friend was a known drug dealer and that her past three drug tests were positive for cocaine. The search of the house was allowed since it was considered a supervisory search, not a search where they were looking for a conviction. (http://hi.findacase.com/, 3)

Muranaka, Gail. [interviewer]. Lenee Propios [interviewee]. (1994) Hawaii Supreme Court.
Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/yfm5fs2.

The creation of the Miranda rights had been taken place after the incident in 1963, Miranda v Arizona. In this trial Ernesto Miranda was prosecuted after confessing to kidnapping and raping a mildly mentally challenged 18 year old woman. Due to the fact that they hadn’t read his rights to remain silence unless he wanted to be appointed counsel, his attorney fought to rule out his confession. Although the ruling was first denied, when it came in front of the Supreme Court in 1966, they ruled out the statements Miranda used since it lacked the protection of his constitutional rights. Subsequently today, during handcuffing a suspect or criminal, police quotes to the person in custody, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.” (Mount, S. (1995). The Miranda Warning. Retrieved October 19, 2009 from http://www.usconstitution.net/miranda.html) Regardless of the Miranda rights, there are certain cases that give authorization with statements given to authority from the person charged when the Miranda rights weren’t given. For example, in a situation where a weapon is involved, the “Public Safety Doctrine” allows police to ask where it is without having to say the Miranda rights. During incarceration, without plainly specifying that he/she wants to have a lawyer present during questionnaires, the police can no longer ask any more questions. However, if the person incarcerated says they “think” they “might” want a lawyer present, the questioning may continue. Only that sole person can ask for an attorney present for the Miranda rights to be in effect. If a family member sends in a lawyer without consent from the person held in question, whatever is said can be used against in them in testimony (Siegal p. 340).


Siegel, L. (2008). Introduction to Criminal Justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Assignment #5


Source: http://thefreshscent.com/tag/hawaii/

Statistically there are many disparities among genders in police departments. Some things that might be of interest are:

1. How many females do male police officers let go for speeding as opposed to female police officers?

Male police officers may feel some kind of attraction to female people they pull over and thus give them less of a hard time for speeding whereas most likely a female officer will not harbor such an attraction and evaluate the situation accordingly.

2. What percentage of female officers do field work as opposed to men and how effective is it?

There is a stigma that women cannot do field work as well as men because they are not as physically capable. It would be nice to see if gender even matters in how well field work is accomplished.

3. What is the percentage of male police officers compared to female police officers?

It isn’t good to have a very homogenized pool of police officers. Diversity makes everyone better and more able to understand and interact with other demographics and cultures. If there is a noticeably uneven balance among officers maybe police departments should look into diversifying.

4. What is the percentage of male officers who quit in comparison to the percentage of female officers who quit?

Male police officers have an easier time becoming a part of the police force and women aren’t accepted as quickly or easily. Does this have an effect on the dropout rate of in training police or newly hired police and is there a fix that can be implemented?

5. How quickly do promotions occur for male officers in comparison to female officers?

Are promotions being given fairly in the police workforce and is there bias being shown in who gets promotions without regards to work ethic and accomplishments? In a more fair work environment more officers will be encouraged to do their best and stay a part of the team.

We believe that the officer in the video is The Law Enforcer. The Law Enforcer follows and enforces the laws. He plays it “by the book” and does what he can to make sure the laws are upheld. They work on all types of crimes with no bias. The officer is the video fits this category because he follows all the proper procedures. He pulls the man over for suspected drunk driving and is nice about the situation. After a fight with the suspect the officer was forced to take his life. Once he secured the passenger in the car, he still did his duty and tried to save the suspects life. During the whole confrontation the officer did everything how he was supposed to.

An account of police brutality by Honolulu Police went unreported and the account ended up in a Honolulu newspaper. A local man named Roger Tansley witnessed a number of police officers using excessive force to detain a prisoner.
Outside of a mini mart in Kaneohe two cop cars pulled up into the parking lot. A handcuffed man fell out of the back seat of one car and hit the pavement screaming for help. One police officer slammed him into the back bumper of his car, while the other cop put the prisoner in a chokehold. He also stuck his knee into the back of the convict so hard his eyes were bulging.
After the man was in a chokehold, other patrol cars pulled up. There were now 6 officers present holding the man down while one put leg shackles on the prisoner who was bleeding. Once the man was shackled 5 squad cars left and one drove up to question the witnesses. He did not explain his reasons for the excessive force. He just said the suspect kicked out his back window and was being arrested for kidnapping.
The force used in the assault was deadly force. The man was put in a situation where significant bodily harm occurred. The police officers did not need to use such force for a man who was already in handcuffs. If the man had been trying to escape standard police procedures taught in the academy could have been used to detain the subject further.
Instead of using deadly force to detain a defenseless criminal they could acted civilly and just did their job and take him in. If a criminal is already in handcuffs brutally beating him is not necessary. We believe that by the police officers actions it reduces the severity of the criminal act because now people will be more concerned about how the cops handled the situation, thus, possibly letting go the real criminal that was suppose to and should be punished.


References:

Tansley, Roger. (2002). Police Brutality in Subduing a Prisoner. Police Brutality in Honolulu Goes
Unreported. Retrieved from: http://archives.lists.indymedia.org/imc-hawaii/2002-September/000514.html.

YouTube - Police fights for his life. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81RIZephDfM