American Civil Liberties Union : ACLU of Hawaii Files Federal Lawsuit on Behalf of Peaceful Protesters

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ACLU of Hawaii Files Federal Lawsuit on Behalf of Peaceful Protesters (8/8/2006)

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Advocates for Homeless Unjustly Arrested, ACLU Charges

HONOLULU -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of advocates for the homeless who were arrested while peacefully protesting at Honolulu City Hall.

“These arrests should never have happened,” said Lois K. Perrin, Legal Director of the ACLU of Hawaii. “Just because county officials may not agree with a message does not give them the right to interrupt a protest and arrest fellow Hawaiians for exercising their constitutional right to engage in political expression and dissent.”

The ACLU lawsuit charges that officials for the city and county of Honolulu (CCH) violated the constitutional rights of Utu Langi and Julia Matsui Estrella by illegally arresting them in order to suppress their peaceful political protest in support of the homeless.

The city’s recent decision to close Ala Moana Beach Park at night has resulted in the eviction of more than 200 homeless individuals staying at the park. Their plight inspired Langi and Matsui Estrella to march to City Hall to protest the park closure and the city’s failure to provide adequate alternatives for the homeless. At least 60 others marched alongside them including advocates, church leaders and homeless persons. The lawsuit charges that in response to the protest, the city deployed more than a dozen officers from the Honolulu Police Department, including officers in full riot gear from the Specialized Weapons and Tactics Division (SWAT) unit, to intimidate and harass the protesters, interfering with the delivery of their political message. Police officers arrested Langi and Matsui Estrella when they asserted their rights and refused to move their protest off City Hall grounds.

“The only violations at City Hall that night were by the CCH when it trampled on the constitutional rights of these protesters,” Perrin said. “One can only conclude that these actions were taken because the CCH did not want the embarrassment of having the homeless on its front steps.”

Throughout July the ACLU of Hawaii repeatedly urged the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney to drop the criminal charges against Langi and Matsui Estrella. The prosecutor refused to act and the ACLU filed a separate motion with the Hawaii State District Court asking that the charges be dismissed. That motion will be heard on August 22, 2006.

The lawsuit names as defendants the CCH, George Keoki Miyamoto, Director of the Facilities Maintenance Department, Dana Lynne Takahara-Dias, Deputy Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, and a number of individual Honolulu Police Department officers.

Legal papers in the case are online at: www.aclu.org/rightsofthepoor/housing/26440lgl20060808.html

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