Nuisance doesn’t
apply to hookers

A judge rules a 1979 law
can't be used to get them
off Waikiki streets

By Linda Hosek
Star-Bulletin

Prosecutors may view prostitutes as a nuisance, but they can't use the 1979 nuisance abatement law to get them off Waikiki streets.

Circuit Judge Kevin Chang yesterday rejected state motions to order nine prostitutes out of Waikiki from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for two years, saying the law applies to places.

It was the first time the state used a civil procedure to fight prostitution, usually prosecuted under criminal laws as a petty misdemeanor with a 30-day jail sentence and $500 fine.

"It's creative, but it's not legal," said William Harrison, attorney for three defendants.

He argued that the nuisance law allows the state to shut down places where illegal activity occurs, such as crack houses. But it doesn't apply to people, adding: "You can't characterize a person as a nuisance."

If Chang had approved an order to keep the nine women off Waikiki streets, police could have removed them with a contempt citation. They would have faced a fine from $400 to $5,000, and up to six months in jail.

But such a ruling also could have paved the way for prosecutors to clear Waikiki of people with any kind of prior convictions, said Richard Gronna, attorney for one of the defendants.

"Does this open the door for someone with a drug conviction?" he asked.

Gronna also argued that the state's application of the nuisance law would have prevented the nine women from even walking down a Waikiki street or going to a restaurant at night.

"My client lives in that neighborhood," he said. "She does things that are legal."

He described the state's proposal as drastic and said it already had prostitution and anti-loitering laws to prosecute prostitutes.

Deputy Prosecutor Cecelia Chang said the Honolulu Police Department was at "its wit's end" in trying to sweep prostitutes from Waikiki streets.

"We have to use all that we can to fight this problem," she said.

Chang said the state would review the ruling and decide if it would pursue the issue under civil law. She also said the state may try to use the nuisance law to get others with convictions out of Waikiki if it can succeed with prostitutes.

"It's something I expect our office would be interested in," she said after the hearing.

Judge Chang left the door open to allow the state to refile its motion, indicating prosecutors would have to make a current, more-complete record of prostitution activities.

He noted that the most recent convictions of the defendants ranged from 1983 to 1996.

Mayor Jeremy Harris said he was disappointed in the ruling, but that the city would huddle with the state to determine a strategy."The public can rest assured that this administration will keep working until we have found a way to take the prostitutes off our streets," he said.