Apparently critics of the new law were wrong

It’s heartening to see a healthy list of nominees to replace those who resigned from the University of Hawaii’s Board of Regents rather than conform to the state’s new financial disclosure law.

The law required 15 state boards and commissions, including the regents, to disclose their financial interests to the public — thus revealing any potential conflicts of interest. Critics warned that would discourage worthy people from serving.

But now: Among the UH regent nominees is retired Supreme Court Justice Simeon Acoba Jr., a 1966 graduate of UH and one of the most highly respected jurists in Hawaii.

The price of free speech is $12,401

Free speech is priceless, of course. But in the recent clash over rules governing protests at the state Capitol, that invaluable right was reinforced for the precise sum of $12,401.

That’s the tab for attorneys’ fees, to be paid by the state, after it settled a lawsuit filed by the ACLU that objected to state rules requiring groups of 25 or more to obtain a permit to demonstrate at the Capitol and other state properties.

The state will now eliminate the requirements for protest permits, which had to be requested 14 business days in advance, and for insurance. Now that’s good news worth shouting about.