Your Views for March 26

Kudos to grand jurors

I wanted to respond to the uneducated and flippant comment (by professor Todd Belt in a March 24 story about Mayor Billy Kenoi being indicted) about our grand jury system.

I had the privilege to serve as the grand jury’s legal counsel for three years. Grand jurors come from all walks of life in our community and serve for an entire year.

The men and women serving on the grand jury take their responsibility seriously and carefully. What the media don’t report are all the cases rejected by the grand jury for lack of evidence. As the representatives of our community, it is their legal duty to make sure that there is sufficient evidence to begin the criminal process.

I have witnessed grand jurors question witnesses and prosecutors. I have seen them struggle to determine whether the evidence before them was sufficient. I have seen the effort prosecutors and victim-witness advocates put in to make sure the witnesses are prepared and provide the grand jury with enough evidence to support a criminal charge.

I have seen grand jurors brought to tears by the testimony of victims of sexual assault, domestic violence or the horror of a violent crime. I have seen them work hard to put aside their emotions and weigh the evidence objectively and reach a decision.

The suggestion that grand jurors will indict anyone for anything is wrong and an insult to the good men and women who sacrifice a year of their personal and professional lives to serve on the grand jury.

As a member of our community and lawyer, I want to thank everyone who has served as a grand juror for doing their constitutional duty the best they could.

Ted H.S. Hong

Hilo

Close Guantanamo

Along with peace activists across our planet, I welcome President Barack Obama’s symbolic gesture in giving a “nuevo dia” (new day) to begin normalizing U.S. relations with Cuba.

However, for true equality of relations to flourish, Obama should — and could — make a concrete proposal to immediately close the gruesome gulag at Guantanamo (where gross violations of human rights have been perpetrated for more than a decade).

Then, the U.S. should dismantle the naval base — a sad legacy from an imperial American past — and seriously negotiate returning the occupied territory to its rightful owners, the Cuban people.

After that, our “Punahou Barry” should strive to convince Congress to lift the widely condemned economic embargo (there’s actually a rarity of bipartisan support for its repeal). If he succeeds, that could potentially redeem his much-sullied legacy (the bailout of Wall Street and innumerable drone killings of civilians in at least seven countries).

Can we dare to “hope” for that peaceful “change” from our ambassador of aloha?

Danny H.C. Li

Keaau