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‘Compassionate release’ should be done with care
Does it make sense to stick the families of terminally ill inmates with a pointless bureaucratic headache before he or she is let go on a "compassionate release"? No, of course not.
There are reforms in the pipeline and a bill before the Legislature, all aimed at streamlining the patchwork quilt of laws so cases can be decided fairly. But the new regs should include firm requirements for documentation, including a medical prognosis and peer review by multiple physicians.
The case reported in Monday’s edition about a Hawaii inmate, who lived for two years after he was sent home, didn’t end as forecast. And then there’s Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. He died close to three years after his compassionate release. An egregious example, but a cautionary tale.
Just let go of bus-advertising idea
The City Council Budget Committee was correct to defer Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s ill-advised proposal to sell advertising on city buses. Let’s hope that this idea dies for good this time.
As Oahu struggles to preserve the visual beauty that is the bedrock of our tourist economy, the last thing we need is rolling billboards blighting the landscape. The committee may take up the issue again in March after Caldwell submits his budget. Let’s hope that the city figures out a better way by then to fund expanded bus service.