Chief justice cites innovations born from COVID restrictions

Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald outlined recent and upcoming judicial innovations — often prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic — before a joint session of the state Senate and House on Wednesday before asking for a “modest” budget increase that included a request to restore 30 COVID-era Judiciary job cuts across the islands.

Recktenwald also asked the Legislature to restore a COVID-era program that allowed hundreds of tenants facing eviction to request mediation with their landlords.

“When the pandemic hit, there were predictions that there would be thousands of evictions — a literal tsunami — but that didn’t happen,” Recktenwald said. “One big reason why is because the Legislature enacted Act 57, which required eviction cases to go to mediation. It was a win-win for both landlords and tenants. It kept people in their homes, while treating landlords fairly.”

He said that over 85% of 1,600 cases went to mediation without court intervention.

“And here on Oahu, 85% of the settlements resulted in the tenants remaining in their homes,” Recktenwald said.

Recktenwald, in his biennial State of the Judiciary address to the Legislature that included Gov. Josh Green this year, highlighted recent innovations to divert specific groups of defendants into case management designed to turn their lives around while serving their sentences through community service instead of adding to Hawaii’s overcrowded jails or imposing fines they cannot afford to pay.

Recktenwald announced that a new Women’s Court began its first day of work Wednesday to find the best ways to prevent specific female felony defendants from repeating their crimes by helping them with their underlying problems.

Women’s Court, which was supported by last year’s Legislature, former Gov. Linda Lingle, current Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and others, “recognizes the simple fact that women experience very different pathways to criminal involvement than men,” Recktenwald said. “Women in prison are 80 to 90% more likely to have extensive histories of trauma, such as sexual or physical abuse.”

Women’s Court follows the creation of other courts in Hawaii aimed at preventing future crimes by turning around the lives of specific groups of defendants, such as nonviolent, low-level homeless offenders. Also created were Girls Court and drugs, mental health and veterans treatment courts.

“We have developed specialized programs that enable participants to overcome deep-seated challenges and lead productive lives,” Recktenwald said.

Community Court for homeless “participants” who have been cited for multiple nonviolent crimes has since expanded from District Court downtown to Waianae, Kaneohe, Kakaako and Kihei, Maui, with hopes to eventually create a similar Community Court in Waikiki.

The locations are designed to make it easier for defendants to attend court sessions and serve their community service sentences in areas where they live and committed their crimes.

“More than 465 individuals have completed the outreach court program, 7,600 cases have been cleared, and 5,600 hours of community service have been completed,” Recktenwald said.

Mental Health Court, also approved by the Legislature, has saved over $8.5 million “due to reduced incarceration and state hospital costs,” he said.

More than 70 defendants “have been discharged and linked to services and more than 25 have received an extended commitment for treatment,” Recktenwald said. “We should build on that success and consider diverting other nonviolent individuals with mental illness.”

Recktenwald said that, “These efforts have been a resounding success.”

“We have drastically reduced the number of juveniles held in detention, while enhancing public safety,” he said. “In the last 15 years, the number of juveniles admitted to secure detention or committed to the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility has dropped by more than 80%. But juvenile crime did not go up — quite the opposite. There has been an 85% reduction in juvenile felony petitions. But there is one statistic that exemplifies the tremendous progress that we have made. Last June, for the first time ever, there were no girls detained at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility. You cannot do better than zero.”

Truancy Court relies on juvenile probation officers to work with students, parents and counselors to address the reasons why students miss school that Recktenwald said “rarely” lead to court proceedings while getting students to attend their classes.

Family Court, which also targets absenteeism in elementary schools, is currently working with 88 families of students in eight schools, he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a shutdown of Hawaii’s courts but spurred technological innovations that have increased participation to nearly 90% in Oahu District Court, especially among defendants who otherwise might have just paid a traffic fine or not shown up at all, Recktenwald said.

“Instead of having to miss work, people can now appear in a traffic infraction case by simply using their phone,” he said. “Since the pandemic began, we have held more than half a million remote hearings and this number is rapidly climbing.”

The Judiciary developed an eReminder service that has sent more than 24,000 texts and emails to defendants about their court dates.

“Guess what happened?” Recktenwald said. “The appearance rate has significantly increased and is now almost 90 percent in Oahu District Court.”

Recktenwald concluded his State of the Judiciary address by asking legislators to increase the Judiciary’s operating budget by 4.4% for the next fiscal year and 4% in the following fiscal year.

The current Judiciary budget of $175 million represents about 2% of total state spending.

But a freeze on filling vacancies at the onset of the pandemic in early 2020 has burdened the rest of the Judiciary’s 1,700 employees and judges, Recktenwald told the Honolulu Star-­Advertiser after his address.

“In sum,” he told legislators, “the Judiciary is moving forward from the pandemic a stronger and more resilient institution, applying the lessons we learned and building on the partnerships we formed.”