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OUR FOUNDING

In July 1950, Judge Betty Vitousek wrote to the Bar Association of Hawai'i (now Hawaii State Bar Association [HSBA]) proposing the establishment of a Legal Aid society to provide legal services to those persons with a legitimate claim but without funds. The Executive Committee of the Bar gave its approval to the sponsorship of a Legal Aid bureau and lawyers' reference service. The President of the Bar Association (HSBA) appointed a committee consisting both of attorneys and of other business, civic and social service leaders to incorporate a charitable firm known as the Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i.

The Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i (“Legal Aid”) was incorporated on December 1, 1950; the charter was issued by the Treasurer of The Territory of Hawai'i empowering C. Nils Tavares as President, Thomas Waddoups as Vice President, Betty Vitousek as Secretary, and Ronald Jamieson as Treasurer. The doors opened to the first Legal Aid office on March 12, 1951 on the premises of the Better Business Bureau on Alakea Street. Our staff consisted of General Counsel Vincent Yano and Secretary Florence Kaneko. Funding was provided by a grant from the McInerny Foundation through the Community Chest (now Aloha United Way [AUW]) and a contribution from the Bar Association. Our first month of operation ended with 101 open cases.

By 1956, Legal Aid had become a participating member of the Community Chest (AUW). We had our first Supreme Court case: Hollinrake v. Hollinrake, 40 Hawaii 397, and completed our first membership drive with an estimated 75% of attorneys becoming contributing members.

GROWTH IN THE 1960s

During the 1960s, our services expanded from only civil cases to both civil and criminal matters. We received federal funding in June 1966 through the Hawai'i Office of Economic Opportunity, which funded our expansion to 11 neighborhood centers on O'ahu and part-time coverage of neighbor islands via traveling attorneys. By December 1966, our Kaua'i office opened full-time in the Circuit Court building of Lihue and was staffed with a part-time attorney and secretary. Our Hilo office opened in June 1967 with a full-time attorney. The Legal Aid Board amended priorities to include both law reform and economic development as program goals in April of 1968. Toward the end of 1968, Legal Aid was providing clinical services for the State's Concentrated Employment Program, which provided training for the unemployed on O'ahu. Legal Aid also signed a contract in 1968 with the State to provide public defender services for indigents charged with misdemeanors until a permanent Public Defender system could be established. Two full-time attorneys, James Jung and Donald Tsukiyama were assigned to the project.

THE DECADE OF ACTIVISM AND IMPACT (1970s)

The 1970s were a period of change. The federally funded Model Cities Program (which encouraged small business development) was implemented with offices in Kalihi-Palama and Wai'anae. Consumer Credit Counseling Service merged with Legal Aid, providing consumer legal counseling for anyone and court services for indigents. The Public Defender Office was taken over by the State as a state agency. Legal Aid attorneys Stan Levin and Peter Lee challenged the right of U.S. Department of Health Education & Welfare to cut social security payments without a prior hearing as a violation of due process. The Board of the Hawai'i State Bar Association voted to take over the Lawyer Referral Service which had been administered by Legal Aid. Attorneys Paul Alston and Stan Levin represented parents and the Hawaii Association for Retarded Children in a class action against the state charging inadequate education opportunities for disabled children. In February 1975, the federal Legal Services Firm (LSC) was established which allowed Legal Aid to receive federal funding directly rather than through state agencies.

In July 1976, state funding cuts imperiled Legal Aid activities. Our Kaua'i and Moloka'i offices stopped accepting new clients. It was expected that by August 1st, Kona, Moloka'i, Wai'anae, and Kahaluu offices would be discontinued, and personnel cuts would be made in all offices. A timely increase in federal funding helped Legal Aid avoid serious cutbacks.

Legal Aid attorneys Ronald Albu, Joel August and Michael Town filed suit against the Navy for the bombing of Kaho‘olawe as violating the National Environmental Policy Act, that National Historic Preservation Act and Exec. Order No. 11593 which ensured that historic and cultural resources are given proper consideration in the preparation of environmental impact statements. The landmark summary judgment in Aluli et. al. v. Brown resulted in a consent decree that lead to the end of bombing of Kaho‘olawe.

In April 1977, Legal Aid negotiated with the state Department of Education (DOE) for an expansion of the federally funded breakfast program, allowing over 12,000 low-income students to receive free or low-cost breakfasts in 113 public schools around the state. In August 1977, Legal Aid challenged state regulations that denied public welfare payments to families with interest in property (even those kept in trusts and that could not be accessed for years). In September 1977, Legal Aid won a suit against the State Department of Social Services and Housing (DSSH) by claiming the State had failed to adequately reimburse recipients for work-related expenses (e.g., meals, work clothing, transportation costs, union dues, etc.). In 1979, Legal Aid sued the State Department of Taxation claiming low-income residents were entitled to excise tax credit refund denied them by the State. Over 23,000 claims were filed within ten months of decision.

CHALLENGES, BRANCHING OUT AND LEGAL RESULTS (1980s)

Beginning in 1980, Legal Aid underwent a major change with the potential expiration of the LSC Act, which provided federal funding for legal assistance to the poor. An effort was led by the Reagan Administration to discontinue funding for legal services. Although not successful, the President's effort did result in a funding reduction of 25%. The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and Legal Aid established the joint "Native Hawaiian Legal Project," funded by LSC, to assist Native Hawaiians with status legal problems. The Legal Aid Hilo office successfully challenged the denial to Native Hawaiians of access to ancient Hawaiian trails in Ka'u. The trails were reopened. In March 1981, Legal Aid, HSBA, and the Young Lawyers Section of HSBA came to an agreement to create a pro bono program called "Hawai'i Lawyers Care." Hawai`i Lawyers Care (now Volunteer Legal Services Hawai‘i) accepted Legal Aid’s overflow of cases and referred them out to a panel of volunteer pro bono attorneys. In May 1981, Legal Aid won a suit against DSSH, requiring them to pay almost $2 million in retroactive welfare benefits to pregnant women, pursuant to former DSSH regulation. In August 1981, Legal Aid Hilo attorney Ben Gaddis sued DSSH, claiming that children should be allowed welfare benefits, even if their parents had been disqualified by failure to meet work requirements.

State and federal budget cuts in 1983 forced staff retrenchment from 70 positions to just 58 and shortened office hours. In Kaiama v. Aguilar, Legal Aid successfully represented clients in the Hawal'i Supreme Court, which affirmed the right of tenants to sue for and receive statutory damages from landlords for lockouts. In 1986, Mark L. v. DOE, Legal Aid established the right to “compensatory education” for exceptional children who were provided with an inadequate public education when they were age-qualified. In Doe v. Clark, Legal Aid sued on behalf of clients to secure psychiatric emergency treatment and assessment for mental patients at Kona Hospital and to stop the practice of transporting patients 120 miles to Hilo by police shuttle. In 1987, Legal Aid successfully petitioned DHS to change the rule that denied childcare assistance to families receiving Medicaid. In August 1987, Legal Aid challenged termination and reduction of welfare benefits under the Omnibus Reconciliation Act. A publication appeared in all newspapers announcing recipients' rights to claim refunds.

Pro se divorce clinics were first offered in 1988 on Kaua'i and on the Big Island. After a success in Wilder & Lasalle v. Hall, the Department of Corrections revised policies to discontinue body cavity visual inspection strip searches after inmates visited the law library and participated in religious services. In addition, the Department of Corrections was required to provide pen and paper to inmates free of charge and immediately upon request, rather than billing inmates and delaying provision of materials for several days. In Linoz v. Bowen, Legal Aid successfully challenged the denial of Medicare reimbursement for air ambulance transportation to hospitals for specialized treatment not available at local hospitals. In response, Medicare established a nationwide hotline for seniors wrongfully denied reimbursement, and over 18,000 claim forms were mailed out.

Legal Aid represented an HIV positive client in 1988 with ARC (AIDS Related Complex) who was denied social security disability benefits. Advocates helped him supplement his medical records and educate the Office of Hearings and Appeals on the new social security regulations regarding persons with AIDS. In 1989, Aki v. Beamer, Legal Aid represented a class of Native Hawaiians concerned about the transference of beach parklands in Anahola, Kaua'i from Hawaiian Homes Commission to the County of Kaua'i for public use by a Governor's executive order. The suit resulted in the Governor voluntarily canceling all executive orders transferring Hawaiian Home Lands to State or County agencies, and improvement of water storage facilities for the benefit of Anahola residents. In F V. Sunn v. Bowen, Legal Aid challenged DHS's classification of Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) payments as "unearned income" which counted against AFDC benefits and succeeded in establishing TDI as comparable to sick pay, an "earned income deduction." In Akau v. Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Legal Aid negotiated with private landowners of shoreline on the west side of the Big Island, who had blocked public access along an ancient shoreline pedestrian train. Negotiations resulted in greater public access to this area. During the 1980s, Legal Aid also drafted and received legislative support for a comprehensive dependent adult protective services law, meant to address the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of the elderly and disabled.