Why Patriotic Hawaiians Oppose the Patriot Act

 David Alan Black 

“Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono.”

Hawaii State Motto (“The life of the land is preserved in righteousness”).

Forgive me if I get a little nostalgic in today’s squib, but I was hatched and raised in Hawaii, as was my dad. He was born there in 1918 after his parents had emigrated from the frigid climes of Billings, Montana (smart move on their part if you ask me!). As you may recall, this was not long after Hawaii had been illegally annexed by the federal government.

Hawaiian sovereignty was formally transferred to the United States at ceremonies at Iolani Palace on August 12, 1898.  The Hawaiian anthem, “Hawai’i Pono ‘I”–with words written by King Kalakaua—was played as the Hawaiian flag was lowered and replaced by the American flag and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”  The Hawaiian people had lost their land, their monarchy, and now their independence.

Sanford B. Dole became the self-proclaimed President of the Republic of Hawaii on July 4, 1894, under a constitution that was also declared law by proclamation.  Dole’s supporters were primarily American businessmen who had long pressed for annexation. The group was known as the “Committee of Safety,” which had overthrown the Hawaiian Constitutional Monarchy at the point of the bayonet in 1893 and set up a provisional government.  

Liliuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii, had visited Washington to request help to reinstate the monarchy.  Petitions with more than 20,000 signatures had been sent to the U.S. Congress opposing annexation. The petitions were ignored.

The Queen and her cabinet soon realized that trying to negotiate with the federal government would only lead to bloodshed, which she wanted to avoid. On January 17, 1893 Queen Liliuokalani yielded her throne and reevaluated the options for regaining her position. The following lines are an excerpt from her statement upon surrendering her rule.

“I, Liliuokalani ... do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain persons claiming to have established a Provisional Government of and for this Kingdom.... (I) yield my authority until such time as the government of the United States shall, upon the facts presented to it, undo the actions of its representative and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian islands.”

All this to explain why Hawaiians have always been a bit suspicious of what they perceive to be federal intrusions into matters of state.

Recently, the government of Hawaii passed a concurrent resolution affirming the legislature’s commitment to human rights, civil liberties, and the protections guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Hawaii. The Hawaii Legislature joined more than 60 towns, cities, and counties around the country that have passed resolutions criticizing the USA Patriot Act. The act gives the FBI and the CIA greater rights to wiretap phones, monitor email, survey medical, financial, and student records, and break into homes and offices without prior notification. It creates a new crime of domestic terrorism that is so broadly defined that it may be applied to citizens acting legally to express their dissent. It effectively repeals the Fourth Amendment by allowing the government to conduct searches secretly and without a warrant. The Patriot Act even requires librarians to report the book-borrowing habits of library patrons!

Fears of a police state have increased opposition to the act in recent days. As Senator Russ Feingold has stated, “There is no doubt that if we lived in a police state, it would be easier to catch terrorists. . . . But that wouldn’t be a country in which we would want to live, and it wouldn’t be a country for which we could, in good conscience, ask our young people to fight and die. In short, that country wouldn’t be America. Preserving our freedom is the reason we are now engaged in this new war on terrorism. We will lose that war without a shot being fired if we sacrifice the liberties of the American people in the belief that by doing so we will stop the terrorists.”

The resolution by the State of Hawaii is much longer and more detailed than most similar resolutions passed recently. I print it here for not merely for your reading enjoyment. It will give you a good idea of just what is at stake as the war on terrorism becomes localized.

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has a long and distinguished history of protecting and expanding human rights, civil liberties, and constitutional protections, often serving as a beacon for our country's citizens when their rights, liberties, and protections are threatened; and

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has the most diverse population in the nation, and the contributions of citizens and noncitizens are vital to its character, harmony, and spirit of aloha; and

WHEREAS, the people of the State of Hawaii are in a unique position to understand the gravity and horror of a massive, lethal attack, as the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor was the last time American territory was attacked by foreign forces prior to the events of September 11, 2001; and

WHEREAS, numerous American citizens from Hawaii have served in the Armed Forces of the United States with courage and honor, including the 442nd Battalion, the most decorated unit in American military history; and

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii contains many sites that memorialize the gratitude felt by the State of Hawaii and the nation for the supreme sacrifice made by those in the Armed Forces who have died in battle protecting these same cherished rights, liberties, and protections, including the National Military Cemetery at Punchbowl and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial; and

WHEREAS, several actions recently taken by the federal government, including the adoption of the USA PATRIOT Act and Homeland Security Act, and the promulgation of several executive orders and departmental rules and regulations, may tempt the federal government to sacrifice fundamental human rights and civil liberties that are guaranteed by the constitutions of the State of Hawaii and United States, United Nations Charter, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Convention Against Torture, and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which require the United States to promote human rights for all without distinction; and

WHEREAS, at least two American citizens are already being held incommunicado without charges or access to defense counsel, in violation of their right to a public trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the USA PATRIOT Act defines "domestic terrorism" so broadly as to potentially apply to certain acts of civil disobedience by lawful advocacy groups, which may be labeled as terrorist organizations and subjected to invasive surveillance, signal and electronic intelligence gathering, harassment, and criminal penalties for protected political advocacy; and

WHEREAS, the USA PATRIOT Act grants unchecked power to the Secretary of State to designate domestic groups as "terrorist organizations and greatly expands the government's ability to conduct secret searches without warrants; and

WHEREAS, the Justice Department has issued a directive limiting Freedom of Information Act compliance, citing the threat of terrorism as justification, thereby limiting disclosure of public documents and records covering all government information, much of which has no connection to national security or law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, the United States Attorney General unilaterally, without consulting Congress, eased long-standing intelligence guidelines which were put in place in 1976 as a result of gross intelligence abuses by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and issues surrounding the Watergate Hotel break-in by operatives linked to the Nixon White House; and

WHEREAS, new guidelines allow Federal Bureau of Investigation agents to spy on religious groups, political rallies, and organized meetings without any suspicion that the organization is involved in terrorism or any other criminal activity; and

WHEREAS, this type of unchecked intelligence gathering led to the intelligence abuses of the 1960s and 1970s, including the severe disruption of the civil rights movement and the murder of many leading activists and dissidents; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the Senate concurring, that actions recently taken by the federal government pose a threat to the human rights, civil liberties, and constitutional protections of the residents of this State, and run the very serious risk of destroying freedom, security, and prosperity in a misguided attempt to save them; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature remains firmly committed to the protection of the human rights, civil liberties, and constitutional protections of all people residing within the State, including those who are citizens of other nations, and affirm its commitment to embody the true spirit of democracy, to embrace and defend the rights, liberties, and protections now under siege, and to make them equally viable for all, regardless of citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, racial identification, religious affiliation, age, or country of origin; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that federal and county law enforcement officials acting within the State work in accordance with the policies of the county police departments, and in cooperation with those departments, and not engage in law enforcement activities that threaten the human rights, civil liberties, and constitutional protections of people residing in the State of Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature requests that Hawaii's delegation to the Congress of the United States monitor the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act, executive orders, and federal departmental rules and regulations cited herein, and actively work for the repeal of those Acts, and the withdrawal of those executive orders, and federal department rules and regulations, that violate human rights and civil liberties stated in the constitutions of the State of Hawaii and United States, United Nations Charter, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Convention Against Torture, and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Attorney's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, county law enforcement authorities and relevant state departments are requested to report findings and recommendations to the Legislature twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2004 on the extent and manner in which they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act, executive orders, and federal departmental rules and regulations, that weaken or destroy our human rights and civil liberties stated in the constitutions of the State of Hawaii and United States, United Nations Charter, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Convention Against Torture, and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination, including the disclosure of the names and locations of any detainees held in the State of Hawaii or any Hawaii residents detained elsewhere as "enemy combatants;" and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, United States Attorney General, Director of Homeland Security, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, President of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, members of Hawaii's delegation to the Congress of the United States, the Governor, Attorney General, and Mayors of Hawaii County, Kauai County, Maui County, and the City and County of Honolulu.

April 2, 2003

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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