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State Settlement Reached with ACLU Over Incarceration of Innocent Individuals
February 10, 2005

Honolulu - The State of Hawai`i has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a class action federal civil rights lawsuit brought on behalf of hundreds of innocent individuals who were wrongly detained by the State Department of Public Safety (PSD) after being ordered released by the courts and, in some cases, subjected to unconstitutional strip and body cavity searches without legal justification.

The case addressed serious federal constitutional violations arising from the illegal detention and mistreatment of individuals held beyond their release dates between December 1999 and December 2002.

Lead plaintiff Gregory Tapaoan expressed relief that others would be spared his experience. "I was innocent from the start and it's hard to put into words the feeling of having your freedom stripped away. I was so happy to win my case but then had to face being subjected to confinement, and in front of my family no less," said Tapaoan. Tapaoan was both over-detained and subjected to multiple strip-searches following acquittal.

The settlement, preliminarily approved on February 8 by U.S. District Court Magistrate Leslie Kobayashi, requires PSD to implement new policies to provide for the timely release of acquitted individuals and not force them to endure humiliating strip and body cavity searches. The settlement covers class members, administration of their claims and attorneys fees.

The lawsuit was filed in December 2001 on behalf of nine individuals who were, after being acquitted, handcuffed, shackled and placed in court holding cells for hours by officials of the Sheriff Division of the PSD. The ACLU alleged that individuals were then chained with other prisoners, transported back to OCCC, and forced to submit to invasive bodily strip searches. Individuals were confined to prison cells for hours, sometimes days and, in some instances, for weeks. While being detained, they were subjected to unreasonable conditions of confinement, including being denied food, denied permission to make phone calls, forced to wear jail clothing and harassed and threatened by prison guards.

ACLU cooperating attorney Mark Davis said, "This important victory will ensure that Hawai’i inmates, who have earned their release through acquittal, will have their freedom immediately restored regardless of administrative red tape. Our system of justice has become more efficient and fair as a result of the safeguards imposed by this settlement."

The District Court's preliminary approval of the class opens the way for the claims administrator to provide notice to potential class members and eventually resolve hundreds of potential claims. The process is expected to take several months.

A major part of the lawsuit was addressed in 2002 when State Circuit court issued an order to public defenders, prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys that all acquitted defendants were to be immediately released from court.

The settlement agreement provides substantial remedies and compensation to those whose rights were violated during the class period and also promises to protect important civil rights in the future. It is designed to ensure that future individuals are timely released and ends the practice of invasive strip and visual body cavity searches without reasonable suspicion and illegal treatment after becoming entitled to release.

Example of court orders that would release an individual include, for example, dismissal of charges, expiration of sentence including for "time served" as a condition of probation, supervised release, release on own recognizance, deferred acceptance of a guilty plea, grant of probation, and release pending investigation.

The legal team also included Stanley Levin and Mike Livingston from the law firm of Davis Levin Livingston Grande and former ACLU legal director Brent White and interim legal director Susan Dorsey.

The mission of the ACLU and its Hawai’i affiliate is to protect the fundamental freedoms contained in the state and federal constitutions through litigation, legislative and public education programs statewide. The ACLU is funded primarily through private donations and provides its service at no cost to the public. The ACLU does not accept any government funds.


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