The
Truth that Maui Government Criminals, the Maui Visitors’ Bureau, and their
Lackeys in the Media Don’t Want You to Know about Maui’s Broken Justice System
During July and August I spent
about 100 hours on sidewalks at high-traffic spots in downtown Wailuku
displaying large signs that make outlandish defamatory allegations about Mayor
Alan Arakawa. I called him a “pedophile” and a “cannibal,” followed by the
words “I swear this is true under penalty of perjury.” I had made the claims
up.
On August 18 I filed a petition in
district court for a temporary restraining order (TRO) alleging that the mayor
had phoned me several times and threatened me with violence if I continued to
defame him. My signature certified that my statements were true, sworn under penalty
of perjury. My phone records show that calls were made to me from a pay phone
in the county building at the times I alleged that the mayor had called me. But
a check of the security camera near that phone would show me making those
calls.
A few days later I sent an
anonymous letter to the county prosecutor along with a copy of the TRO
petition, which I said had been obtained by the broadcast station where I
worked. As an Arakawa supporter and friend, I said, I am outraged and want Kurt
Butler prosecuted for perjury. I explained how perjury might be proved by
evidence from Butler’s phone records and from the mayor’s schedule log and his
staff. I served myself up to the prosecutor on a silver platter.
Now, months after my criminal
prank, I still have not heard from the police or the prosecutor. To my
knowledge, no charges have been filed against me and probably none will be. Of
course they would love to charge and jail me, but their own long-standing
perjury decriminalization policy, an illegal policy that undermines the
integrity of the justice system, makes prosecution impossible.
Three times in the last decade I
was arrested on the basis of perjured TRO petitions. I spent a total of 35 days
in jail, incurred legal expenses and major hassles, and suffered defamation as
bad as my recent defamation of the mayor. The taxpayers paid thousands for all
this. When the criminal lies were exposed I tried to have the perjurers
prosecuted but I was always told that the police, by policy, do not investigate
complaints of perjury, and that the prosecutor does not take action unless the
police investigate first. Others have told me similar stories and, to my
knowledge, the county has never prosecuted a case of perjury. Because of this
illegal policy, we are all at the mercy of criminal liars, trials are a farce,
and unjust verdicts are very common.
The de facto veto by the county government of the anti-perjury law
passed by the state legislature is patently unconstitutional, a violation of
separation of powers. The mayor, the police chief and the prosecutor take oaths
to uphold and enforce the law. They have no right to pick and choose which laws
to enforce. For years I have complained to county officials and council members
about the policy and the harm it does to innocent people and to the justice
system itself, but I have never received a reply from any of them.
If common people are not protected
from the crime of perjury, why should the powerful people responsible for the
policy be protected? I defamed and pranked the mayor and others in an attempt
to force a showdown on this issue.
The county government must finally
do what I have been urging it to do since 2001: admit that its perjury
decriminalization policy is unconstitutional as well as harmful to its victims
and to the integrity of the system, then initiate serious reforms. These must
include: (1) a press release announcing an end to perjury decriminalization and
informing people that police officers will investigate complaints of perjury the
same as any other serious crime; (2) a memo to all Maui police officers
directing them to investigate and file reports on complaints of perjury as they
would any other serious crime; (3) change the standard TRO petition forms to
emphasize the seriousness of perjury and the right of respondents to a fair
investigation should they complain of perjury in the petition.
I resolve to strictly fast (0
calories/day) until the county initiates these reforms. This protest fast started
at noon on Monday, October 13, 2014.
This protest is also against the
local media (Maui News, et al) all of which stubbornly refuse to investigate
the issue or publish my comments on it. If the county government criminals and
the MVB don’t want a particular can of worms opened, their media stooges won’t
open it. Is this democracy?
Strict fasting by someone my age
(70) can cause blindness and coma in as little as 3 weeks and death in as
little as 5 weeks. The government criminals have not moved one inch in 12 years
of my complaining and protesting in every way I can think of. They will even
tolerate my repeatedly defaming them in public demonstrations rather than
reform their illegal policy, so I don’t expect them to move now. I expect to
die.
How You Can Help: Buy Barbarians
in Paradise/Terror Comes to Maui, a dramatic flash novel about the
likely future of Maui if we don’t get real reforms. Available in paperback and
e-book. And buy gift copies for friends. Do this and I may be able to get my
website back up with a provider less likely to censor it at the insistence of
Maui government criminals (which my ex-provider, Wix, did). Then the truth can
continue to be told even if I die.
Kurt Butler
