STAND. COM. REP. NO. 427
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 1954
S.D. 1
Honorable Colleen Hanabusa
President of the Senate
Twenty-Fourth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2007
State of Hawaii
Madam President:
Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 1954 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO JUSTICES AND JUDGES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to require public disclosure of disciplinary sanctions imposed on any justice or judge of the State of Hawaii along with the findings and recommendations by the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Currently, Rule 8 of the Rules of the Supreme Court regulates judicial discipline. The rules indicate that the Commission shall submit a report containing its findings and recommendations to the Supreme Court. However, when an allegation of misconduct has been proven and sanctions have been imposed, there is no requirement that such result be disclosed to the public. Your Committee finds that it is imperative that public confidence in the Judiciary be maintained and that disciplinary disclosures would achieve this result.
Your Committee heard testimony from the Public Defender who commented that disclosure of judicial discipline was not a bad idea and that the mode of discipline should be classified according the seriousness of the misconduct.
Your Committee amended the bill to correctly reference the Commission on Judicial Conduct and not refer to it as the Judicial Disciplinary Commission.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1954, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1954, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,
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____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair |
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