Hawaii Homeless Situation – U.S. District Judge to Rule on Encampment of Sidewalks

(de)Occupy Honolulu members have been camping on sidewalks near Thomas Square near downtown Honolulu, and are protesting a wide range of government policies including the state and city’s stance on homelessness and other perceived social injustices. About a year ago, the city created a new law which allowed the city to seize tents and other personal property that had been left on the sidewalk after they had been tagged for a period of 24 hours. This created a cat-and-mouse game where (de)Occupy members took removed items that were tagged by city officials and prior to the 24 hour period, replaced them with similar items.

The (de)Occupy Honolulu organization has filed a lawsuit against the city that alleges that the law violates their First Amendment right of free speech and does not provide “due process” before seizing and destroying property. The city is supposed to store any confiscated property for 30 days, allowing the property owner to puck it up after satisfactory proof of ownership. (de)Occupy Honolulu argues that some of the items were burned and thrown away immediately. On February 22, the Honolulu city attorneys filed the following statement in court: “This case is not about the homeless. This case is about a mixed bag of self-absorbed social protesters — recent mainland transplants — who have seen fit to pitch their tents, invoke King Kamehameha’s law, and drag bulky item pickup junk furniture and other personal property on the sidewalk fronting one of Hono­lulu’s most historic and culturally significant public parks.”

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright is scheduled to hear both sides in a preliminary hearing on Friday.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-16-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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