The need for a judicial system that oversees legal matters is indispensable in any particular country or state. Hawaii is one of the states with a judicial system that seems simple, yet is indispensable in ensuring peaceful coexistence of Hawaii’s inhabitants. The highly structured judicial system consists of the appellate courts at the top of the hierarchy and intermediate courts of appeal at the bottom. Trial courts consist of the circuit, family as well as district courts. One of the four circuit courts is the O’ahu First Circuit Court. Although its undertakings have mainly been with the goal of effectively performing its duties as mandated by Hawaii’s judiciary, it has severally gone out of its way to strategize and positively impact the community it serves. The First Circuit Court has implemented diversified strategies that have helped in the creation a favorable legal environment for its clients while at the same time ensuring law adherence by all citizens. Besides, even when most of its activities have mainly been in O’ahu, most of its staff have participated in law-related initiatives of international caliber. In all of its undertakings, ethical policies have strictly been adhered to. This has mainly been with the intent of influencing the institution’s credibility in ensuring justice to the different demographics it serves. With a dedicated team of judges and other court leaders, Hawaii’s First Circuit Court has succeeded in its ethical practice, social responsibility, environmental sustainability, and impacting masses at the local and international levels.
Organization’s Generic Strategies
The Hawaii First Circuit Court has, over time, instituted different strategies to ensure proper law administration. Such strategies have helped in positioning the entity in a way that helps it favorably operate compared to other circuit courts. This is in the form of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. The adoption of the Kids’ First Program from the States’ judiciary is one of the strategies that the entity has put in place to ensure the most vulnerable members of O’ahu and other areas not represented in the different circuit courts are protected (Lopez et al., n.d.) . The program is a mandatory inclusion of the Hawaii’s State Judiciary and, in this case, implemented by the O’ahu First Circuit to cushion children against the innumerable physical and psychological effects of parental divorce (Recktenwald, 2018) . Besides the above, there are community and state resources that the O’ahu First Circuit Court puts at the disposal of the demographics it serves. Such resources help in the mitigation of crime, improve collaboration among communities, and increase cohesion in society in general.
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Besides the above, community resources supported by the entity are some of the ways it has strategized around crime reduction. The different resources are made available to citizens in the community as well as the state level. Domestic Violence Action Center is instrumental in assisting domestic violence victims in their journey to seeking justice. Aside from the community programs, one of the most successful strategies that has been instituted to solve a myriad of issues in the legal arena is the Hope Probation Strategy. It not only helps to reduce crime and victimization but, most importantly, assists families and offenders in the correction process. At the same time, through crime reduction, it saves millions of dollars in prison costs that the taxpayers have to pay when crime reduction strategies do not materialize (Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc., 2015). It is also critical to note that the entity has continually strategized in ways that enable it to maximally function in the changing legal environment. With the disruptions caused by Covid-19, for example, the circuit court has put in place measures that help it to serve the community while at the same time reducing the spread of the virus. For example, it has suspended drug testing for offenders in the Hope Probation program to reduce interaction between individuals. It has also ensured some of its services are provided remotely, hence, it is serving the community while at the same time observing protocols put in place to help quickly flatten the Covid-19 curve (CIRCUIT, 2020).
International Moves
The Hawaii’s First Circuit Court does not operate international but only serves the O’ahu in the Honolulu County and a few other areas not covered by the Second, Third, and Fourth Circuit Courts. The main reason is because of jurisdiction related issues prevalent in law enforcement. With different countries and states having varied judicial systems, it is only possible for the system to operate within the geographical location it is designated in. It is, however, highly structured such that some of its initiatives have an international impact. The Hawaii’s First Circuit Judges, collaborate with other legal professionals worldwide to ensure better policy formulation in areas such as environmental advocacy.
Ethics Policies and Practices
Ethics is indispensable in any judicial system because of the need to apply standard procedures to all dealings. Without such an approach, it is impossible to serve clients with dynamic problems in the best way possible. Besides strictly implementing ethical policies stipulated by the Hawaii judiciary, the O’ahu First Circuit Court has also previously put in place ethical policies to be adhered to in different legal undertakings based on legal developments in the environment it operates in. The need for court interpreters to undertake the Hawaii Basic Ethics Exam is one of the mandatory policy applicable to Hawai’i State Courts, and therefore the O’ahu First Circuit Court. The exam tests the interpreter’s understanding of the applicability of ethics in court. Besides the above, O’ahu First Circuit Court has collaborated with different stakeholders to ensure the implementation of ethical practice in its law implementation process. It collaborates and implements ethical directives given by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. At the same time, the entity’s attorneys benefit from written and unwritten ethical opinions by the Counsel; hence, they are assisted in avoiding legal implications caused by unethical dealings.
Social Responsibility
Hawaii’s First Circuit Court’s involvement in reducing crime in different communities is one of the ways the entity is involved in social responsibility undertakings. The implementation of the Homeless Outreach Court is one of the social responsibilities that the Hawaii’s First Circuit court has successfully undertaken in the past ("Community Outreach", 2020) . The community court addresses minor, non-violent crimes committed by the homeless within the O’ahu community. Started in 2017 by the First Circuit Court, the program has expanded to serve demographics from District Court Downtown, Wahiawa District court, and Waianae Public Library and Kaneohe District Court. The outstretch program is voluntary, and no coercive means of law enforcement is used. After agreeing with the City’s prosecutor office and the State Public Defender’s Office, participants enroll in the program. The program holds the homeless who commit non-violent crimes accountable for their crimes and connects them to nonprofit social entities that help the individuals to deal with a myriad of personal issues such as drug addiction and getting Government IDs and housing. The participants are ordered to perform community service for several hours and are not subjected to incarceration as it is in a majority of US states. Given that Hawaii has one of the highest per capita rate of homelessness in the US, the program helps in not only crime reduction but also reduces the social problems related to homelessness, for example violence.
Other community outreach programs have been initiated by the institution to ensure citizens’ involvement in the judicial process. One of the programs equips students in the community with skills that help them understand how the court functions, hence influencing the young generation’s understanding of the legal system and impacting their future career choices. Besides the above, the institution offers free seminars related to the divorce law in Hawaii. Such education opportunities protect children and mothers against the negative effects of divorce. Besides, the court provides a variety of volunteer opportunities such as the Volunteers in public Service to the Courts and Volunteer in Court Navigator Pilot Program. Such opportunities present qualified and interested community members with the chance to hone their law-related skills and network with the other court staff in a beneficial manner ("Community Outreach", 2020) .
The institution has also collaborated with other legal entities to reinforce legal education in the community it serves. For example, during the 2019 law day, the Hawaii’s First District court prepared a poster contest for students in grades 3-8. The context was mainly about students’ interpretation of issues such as free speech, free press as well as a free society. This activity encourages students to go out of their way to learn about pertinent issues that touch on citizens’ democracy and law enforcement. To some extent, it is a form of education, because to win the context, students must undertake extensive research, a process that exposes them to useful information online or in other spaces. The institution also organized court tours in which interested students were allowed to visit the courtroom, observe court proceedings, and interact with judges. Such opportunities not only expose students to learning environments beyond the classroom but also allow them to develop a rapport with some judges. Such could result in mentorship. Hence, the opportunities are a way in which students are impacted in a way that they become law adherence or enforcement agents in their societies.
Environment Sustainability Efforts
Through strict law enforcement, participation in different symposiums and conferences, and designation of a special First Circuit Environment Court, the entity has reinforced environment sustainability in the locality it operates in and beyond the state of Hawaii. It is also important to note that the institution’s members have participated in conferences and meetings that aim to discuss the different ways to reduce climate change-related impacts and challenge other stakeholders to join hands to ensure environment protection against pollution. In the 2019 Bar Convention and Annual meeting, one of the key speakers was the Honorable Jeffrey Crabtree, an individual who is a senior judge in the First Circuit Environment Court.
Through strict implementation of environmental laws, the First Circuit Court has been at the forefront of preventing environment-related crimes by companies and individuals. In 2015, the environment court decided that 22 Hawaii Judges would devote time to hearing environment-related cases and ensuring environment law enforcement on a monthly basis. The decision was in a bid to ensure consistency in rulings related to the environment. Decisions to be made were related but not limited to sugarcane burning, the impact that the Honolulu rail system has on various historic sites it bypasses, and environmental conflict-related cases such as the D.R Horton’s 11,750-home Hoopili project among others (Hofschneider, 2015) . Besides, Some of Hawaii’s First Circuit court judges have previously co-hosted a symposium that aims at helping judges better understand their roles in the development as well as interpretation of the environmental rule of law.
The Hawaii’s First Circuit court has also previously made landmark court decisions that have positively influenced environmental sustainability (Recktenwald, 2018) . On April 12, 2018, for example, it prohibited the collection of reef fish with a fine-mesh net by recreational users. Such a decision helps in balancing the sea’s ecosystem, hence, preventing the disruption of the sea’s food chain.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Hawaii’s First district court has positively impacted the community it is situated in and other related stakeholders. Its strategic moves have ensured it better serves the community while reducing resources required in law enforcement. For example, the homeless outreach court has positively impacted the homeless by helping them circumvent some of the issues they face, such as homelessness. At the same time, its dynamic community outreach programs have gained recognition beyond Hawaii. Although the institution’s impact internationally has been indirectly through collaborative initiatives that ensure better law enforcement and reduction of crime, it is without a doubt that its positive contribution in initiatives such as curbing the effects of climate change is critical. Besides, the entity has always adhered to ethical standards applicable to law proceedings. Most importantly, at a time when the contribution of the judicial system is indispensable in ensuring environmental sustainability, the entity has been at the forefront in the strict implementation of environmental laws (Hofschneider, 2015). Even though its impact is significantly felt in different spaces, an increase in its collaboration efforts is likely to lead to more positive outcomes.
References
CIRCUIT, F. (2020). STATE OF HAWAI ‘I.
Community Outreach . Courts.state.hi.us. (2020). Retrieved 3 August 2020, from https://www.courts.state.hi.us/outreach/community_outreach .
Hofschneider, A. (2015). Environmental Court: Hopes for Stricter Law Enforcement, Fears of… . Honolulu Civil Beat. Retrieved 3 August 2020, from https://www.civilbeat.org/2015/07/hawaiis-environmental-court-debuts-hopes-for-consistency-fears-of-improper-influence/.
Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. (2015). State of the Art of HOPE Probation.
Lopez, M., Santos, L., & Kimura, F. Kids First Hawaii Oahu Homepage . Kids First Hawaii. Retrieved 3 August 2020, from http://www.kidsfirsthawaii.org/.
Recktenwald, M. (2018). Hawaii State Judiciary Annual Report 2018 . Honolulu: Hawaii Supreme Court. Retrieved from https://www.courts.state.hi.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018_Judiciary_Annual_Report.pdf
