• It’s time to reform Hawai‘i’s wiretapping law It’s time to reform Hawai‘i’s wiretapping law Criminals The involved in drug dealing and distribution on Kaua‘i may get out of being prosecuted thanks to the State of Hawai‘i’s archaic wiretapping laws.
• It’s time to reform Hawai‘i’s wiretapping law
It’s time to reform Hawai‘i’s wiretapping law
Criminals The involved in drug dealing and distribution on Kaua‘i may get out of being prosecuted thanks to the State of Hawai‘i’s archaic wiretapping laws.
existing law makes it onerous for state and county prosecutors to use information obtained by federal agents during a wiretap. The wiretap may pull in evidence that could be used in local cases, but isn’t central to the federal case under investigation.
State Attorney General Mark Bennett, on Kaua‘i Thursday to address Gov. Linda Lingle’s Kaua‘i advisory committee, is asking legislators to reform a law put in place in 1978 that adds what he sees as too many layers of over-sight to wiretapping-provided information.
Bennett told The Garden Island that Hawai‘i is perhaps the only place in the world that has such complicated wiretapping laws. The Hawai‘i law says a closed-doors, “devil’s advocate” of sorts must go over wiretapped-provided information before state and county law officers can use it to prosecute suspects. This extra layer can entail a lengthy legal process, and one that may result in suspects being tipped off that they are being investigated.
The Attorney General said the process is like tying one of a law officer’s arms behind their backs in cases where wiretapping could break open a case. He said stringent laws are in place that protect individuals from unjust wiretapping, and that the extra checks required by Hawai‘i law are unnecessary.
Bennett said the State Senate is behind amending Hawai‘i’s wiretapping law, but are awaiting action by the State House on the issue to move ahead. A Senate bill sent forth in the past died due to lack of House action.
It is time that the rights of those who have suffered at the hands of criminals are considered as equal to those of criminals, especially families and individuals impacted by the acts of “ice” drug dealers and drug users. The Legislature needs to give our law officers a more expedient legal and just means of using wiretaps in serious, drug-related cases, and one that makes it expedient for county and state law officers to work in accord with federal law officers.
Proposed legislation has been stripped of what some saw as partisan overtones, and the proposed bills are fair to those under investigation.
Statewide, it is estimated that over 100 drug cases have gone astray due to the lack of wiretapping laws with teeth. It’s time we gave law officers all the tools they need to prosecute major drug cases.
If partisan reasons are behind again snuffing out reforms to our wiretapping laws, the legislators responsible should be held accountable. The reforms have found solid bipartisan support in the State Senate. It’s now time for the State House to come on board.
