Isles earn D for laws governing justices’ financial disclosure

Financial disclosure requirements for Hawaii Supreme Court justices rate a grade of D, according to a nonprofit digital news organization.

But the requirements for the highest state courts in 42 states received an F, the Center for Public Integrity said in a report issued Tuesday.

That leaves Hawaii, even with a D, with the sixth-best disclosure requirements among all states, the center said.

Nationwide, the center also found 35 examples of "questionable" gifts, investments and other issues in its review of three years of court filings.

Among its findings were judges ruling on cases when family members received income from one of the parties and judges accepting "lavish gifts," including a $50,000 trip to Italy given to an Arkansas justice last year. The center found no questionable dealings for Hawaii justices.

The center reported that financial disclosure laws generally aren’t strong enough to help the public identify potential conflicts of interests on the bench.

It said "little attention has been paid to the personal finances of the 335 judges in the state courts of last resort and how those holdings may influence decisions handed down from the bench."

Tammy Mori, state judiciary spokes­woman, said it might be premature for her to comment since she had not seen the study.

"What I can say is that we are always looking for ways to improve our transparency and provide more access to the public," she said in an email statement. "The fact that Hawaii’s requirements are the sixth best in the country is a positive, but it looks like there is room for improvement nationwide."

The center developed a grading system based on requirements for federal judges.

Based on a 100-point scale, it gave the federal requirements a score of 84 for a grade of B.

Federal judges must report their family members’ investments, gifts and liabilities, but the disclosures aren’t available online and judges can report investments in broad ranges rather than exact amounts, according to the center.

The center’s grading system was based on factors that include whether judges must disclose household income; investments by the judges, spouses and children; gifts to the judges and their families; and financial liabilities of judges and their families.

It also considered whether the financial disclosures are easily available to the public.

Hawaii’s requirements rated a score of 62 out of 100.

No state received an A or B. California and Maryland were the only states that received a C. Hawaii and five other states were given a D. All other states received an F.

The center said unlike most other states, Hawaii judges must report investment transactions.

The strengths of Hawaii’s requirements, the center said, were that the disclosures are available online; Hawaii judges must report household income other than their salaries; and Hawaii has strong gift-disclosure requirements.

The center said weaknesses include judges reporting their income in broad ranges rather than exact amounts. Judges also aren’t required to report reimbursements for travel and other expenses, the center said.

In Hawaii all the justices and all state judges must file disclosures.

The 2012 disclosures can be found at the state Judiciary’s website at www. courts.state.hi.us/news_and_reports/reports/reports. html.

Among the center’s findings:

» In the past three years, justices participated, in 14 instances, in cases involving companies whose stock was owned by justices or their spouses.

» The $50,000 Italian trip given to Arkansas Justice Courtney Goodson was the most expensive gift reported by the nation’s justices in 2012. The gift was from Arkansas lawyer W.H. Taylor, who "collaborated" on several lawsuits with the justice’s husband, John Goodson, the center said. An Arkansas court spokes­woman wrote that Justice Goodson will recuse herself from cases involving Taylor.

» Thirty-six states can enforce penalties ranging from fines to jail time on judges who file improper disclosures. Hawaii is among 12 states that have "only self-policing mechanisms to enforce disclosure rules."

Founded in 1989, the center calls itself one of the country’s oldest and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative news organizations.

Its story can be found at www.publicintegrity.org/ 2013/12/04/13808/state-su­preme-court-judges-reveal-scant-financial-information.

The center’s report grading the states is at www.publicintegrity.org/2013/11/22/13805/how-states-scored.