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The law of the splintered paddle, mamalahoe kanawai, is enshrined in Article 9 of Hawaii’s state Constitution. It promises that the innocent, elderly and the young will be able to sleep in safety by the roadside. It seems, however, that the city government is unable to fulfill this promise, as it continues to “sweep” the homeless.
The city government is also unable to address the factors that make it necessary for people to sleep by the roadside in the first place.
This leaves us in a pointless, perpetual battle that undermines our values, contradicts our state Constitution and fails to support the public good.
Ramon Arjona
Seattle, Wa.
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