A man who peacefully protested the opening prayers at the Hawaii legislature two years ago has settled a federal lawsuit against the state after he was roughed up by security officers when they removed him from the chambers. Now the legislature has to appropriate the $100,000 payout.
Hawaii’s Senate is considering a bill to pay $100,000 to a civil rights activist who was roughly ejected after protesting the prayer that opens Senate sessions. The Hawaii Senate Finance Committee has received a bill to settle for $100,000 claims that public safety officers assaulted a civil rights activist as he peacefully protested prayer in the Legislature.
Attorney General David Louie and Deputy Attorney General Carol Inagaki asked the House Judiciary Committee for $100,000 to settle the claims of Mitchell Kahle and Kevin Hughes.
Kahle, the founder of Hawaii Citizens for Separation of Church and State, and Hughes, a cameraman, sued the state and eight officers of the Senate, Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Public Safety, in Hawaii’s First Circuit Court.
Officers arrested Kahle after he protested the customary religious invocation that opened the last day of the 2010 legislative session at the Capitol building.
Hughes rolled film as the officers allegedly assaulted him and Kahle.
The prayers will still go on, of course.
10 comments
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Gregory in Seattle
May 7, 2012 at 10:38 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The followers of the Prince of Peace are entitled to use violence against anyone who opposes them, after all.
MikeMa
May 7, 2012 at 10:46 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ed states that the prayers will still go on but will the protests continue as well? I do hope so.
gshevlin
May 7, 2012 at 10:53 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
$100,000 is a bargain for that sort of egregious malfeasance. Anybody in the legislature who is thinking of sounding off should just STFU. They also should make damn sure that the conditions do not exist for any other objectors to be badly treated in the future.
slc1
May 7, 2012 at 11:01 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What happens if the legislature refuses to appropriate the money for the judgement?
Konradius
May 7, 2012 at 11:02 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well, if people get to know they can make 100k for protesting those prayers I bet more people will start to protest.
dingojack
May 7, 2012 at 11:04 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
SLC – Dunno. Perhaps the claimant could seize goods or put a lein on wages to recover the debt, plus resonable expenses.
Dingo
Aratina Cage
May 7, 2012 at 11:11 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And here we see another instance where an elevator is used to shield abuse:
$100,000 seems a little low to me. It should be at least a million.
MikeMa
May 7, 2012 at 11:33 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Any chance any of the officers will be found to have committed any crime in this attack?
Paul Durrant
May 7, 2012 at 12:30 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I beleive the prayers (in the Hawaii Senate)have ceased.
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/religion/christianity/its-2012-many-state-legislatures-still-open-sessions-prayer
http://www.au.org/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/hawaii-senate-ends-official-opening-prayers
gingerbaker
May 7, 2012 at 1:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Why are they voting on appropriations for this? To have the money come from a different budget than the operating funds for the Senate?
In other words, to keep fully intact the funds for, say, commissary foods, Christmas parties, and security staff salaries so nobody actually involved will have to suffer a dime’s worth of inconvenience over the affair?
Or an I being too cynical?