Editorial: Hawaii judiciary needs support

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit Hawaii last March, business as usual has come to a grinding halt. But the wheels of justice — already sometimes criticized for turning too slowly — must steadfastly grind away.

Just how difficult that’s been for Hawaii’s Judiciary came into stark focus this week, when Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald gave his annual State of the Judiciary speech to the Legislature. Remotely, of course, as most judicial proceedings have been over the past half-year or so.

“We have gone from essentially no use of Zoom or WebEx in March, to conducting more than 128,000 cases on those platforms statewide between August and December,” Recktenwald said. “This progress has been a true bright spot — for example, we have seen court appearances increase in our online traffic infraction hearings.”

The digital progress bodes well for the Judiciary in this 21st century, and beyond: “We are, in effect, creating the courts of the future, courts that are more responsive to the needs of a community accustomed to doing business online.”

But the past turbulent months also have spawned a disturbing rise in certain crimes, for which penalties have been slow. These are community problems that cannot afford to be ignored, even during a lingering pandemic.

One alarming fact: a 652% increase in client contacts from April-September of 2020, compared with the year before, reported by the Domestic Violence Action Center. That’s fed into the approximately 800 pending jury trials in Honolulu’s domestic violence criminal division. And, the chief justice warned ominously, “new cases are coming in every week.”

Overall, the backlog problem is underscored by the fact that on Oahu alone, some 2,200 criminal jury trials are pending, plus many hundreds more on the neighbor islands. Space limitations in courtrooms have curtailed the ability to hold jury trials, and given budget restraints, renting larger spaces is cost-prohibitive.

Already, the Judiciary had weathered a 5.3% budget cut by the end of the last fiscal year, plus a 8.6% budget drop this fiscal year — so it’s imperative that the Legislature and governor heed Recktenwald’s plea for no further cuts.

In fact, we urge the administrative and legislative branches to work with the Judiciary for space-sharing options that would expedite delayed legal proceedings. Now-dormant Hawaii Convention Center ballrooms, for example, or vacant government spaces might be venues for mutually-acceptable court venues. Cooperation and creativity must be top of mind.

Justice delayed is justice denied. This applies not only to defendants, of course — but importantly, to the many victims of crime who are seeking justice from Hawaii’s Judiciary.