Rep. Okamura quits over health HONOLULU (AP) — Rep. Tom Okamura has resigned his seat in the Hawaii House of Representatives for health reasons. ADVERTISING Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed Okamura to represent Aiea and Halawa in January. His resignation was
Rep. Okamura quits over health
HONOLULU (AP) — Rep. Tom Okamura has resigned his seat in the Hawaii House of Representatives for health reasons.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed Okamura to represent Aiea and Halawa in January. His resignation was announced Thursday.
Okamura previously served in the House, but chose not to seek re-election in 2000 because he was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.
He returned to represent the Aiea district after the seat was vacated by former Rep. Blake Oshiro, who left the Legislature to serve as Abercrombie’s deputy chief of staff.
State lawmakers’ gifts considered
HONOLULU (AP) — A change to the state Code of Ethics would allow legislators to accept invitations and tickets to charitable events.
The House Judiciary Committee needs more information to decide whether the change would be appropriate.
Under the Hawaii Ethics Code, state lawmakers could not accept tickets worth more than $25 or anything else that might be considered an attempt to influence the lawmaker.
Testimony at Thursday’s committee meeting was largely in opposition to the measure. The Ethics Commission, Attorney General’s office, League of Women Voters and others urged members to keep the ethics code intact.
But some lawmakers feel it’s important to attend events for educational purposes or to represent their constituents. The committee will vote on the matter Feb. 9.
National honor for UH professor
HONOLULU (AP) — A national group is honoring University of Hawaii law professor Eric Yamamoto to recognize his devotion to the struggle for justice and his mentorship of promising legal scholars.
The William S. Richardson School of Law said Wednesday the Consortium of Asian Pacific American Law professors created an annual award in Yamamoto’s name.
The “Professor Eric Y. Yamamoto Emerging Scholar Award” will be given to an early-career law professor at a U.S. law school who demonstrates outstanding promise.
Yamamoto served as a member of the legal team that, in 1984, successfully argued the unconstitutionality of the government’s incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
The case became the cornerstone for the 1988 Civil Liberties Act, which included a presidential apology, reparations, and a public education fund.
