<div dir="ltr">
<h1>Telescope protester is granted Hawaiian language interpreter</h1>
<h2></h2>
<aside id="gmail-article_details">
<a href="https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/" title="View all posts in Local News">Local News</a>
<time><p>Mar 22, 2018</p></time>
<div class="gmail-half_article_details">
<h4>Chris Sugidono</h4>
<h5>Staff Writer</h5>
<h6><a href="mailto:csugidono@mauinews.com">csugidono@mauinews.com</a></h6>
<div class="gmail-clear"></div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-half_article_details gmail-article_details_icons">
<section>
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2018/03/telescope-protester-is-granted-hawaiian-language-interpreter/" class="gmail-popup"><img src="https://www.mauinews.com/wp-content/themes/coreV2/images/facebook_article_icon.png"></a>
<a href="http://twitter.com/share?text=Telescope protester is granted Hawaiian language interpreter" class="gmail-twitter gmail-popup"><img src="https://www.mauinews.com/wp-content/themes/coreV2/images/twitter_article_icon.png" border="0"></a>
<div style="clear:both"></div>
</section>
<ul>
<li><a href="mailto:?subject=Telescope protester is granted Hawaiian language interpreter&body=https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2018/03/telescope-protester-is-granted-hawaiian-language-interpreter/"><img src="https://www.mauinews.com/wp-content/themes/coreV2/images/email_icon.png" border="0"></a></li>
<li><a><img src="https://www.mauinews.com/wp-content/themes/coreV2/images/print_icon.png" border="0"></a></li>
</ul>
<div class="gmail-clear"></div>
</div>
<div style="clear:both"></div>
<div id="gmail-CMSv2_Left_160x600" style="text-align:center"></div> </aside>
<section id="gmail-article_content">
<div id="gmail-single_article_image_blur"></div><div id="gmail-single_article_image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ogden_images/www.mauinews.com/images/2018/03/22055837/cs-sam-kaeo-3-21-18.jpg" class="gmail-attachment-large gmail-size-large" alt="" width="600" height="535"></div><p id="gmail-caption">Haleakala
telescope protester Samuel Kaleikoa Kaeo speaks with fellow University
of Hawaii Maui College professor Kiope Raymond on Wednesday at the
Wailuku District Court. The Maui News / CHRIS SUGIDONO photo</p><p>WAILUKU
— A Haleakala telescope protester who asserted his right to speak in
the Hawaiian language in court earlier this year was granted an
interpreter Wednesday in Wailuku District Court.</p>
<p>A trial date was set for May 23 for Samuel Kaleikoa Kaeo, 51, of Kula, who spoke only in Hawaiian during his appearance.</p>
<p><span class="gmail-quotations">“I’m happy that the judiciary is turning the corner and realizing that this issue isn’t going to go away,”</span> Kaeo said outside the courtroom alongside a handful of supporters. <span class="gmail-quotations">“In fact, this issue is going to grow.”</span></p>
<p>Kaeo is among six protesters arrested in the early-morning hours Aug.
2 as dozens of protesters gathered at Kula Highway and Old Haleakala
Highway to confront a large vehicle convoy carrying equipment for
construction of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope at the Haleakala
summit.</p>
<p>He has pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct, obstructing a highway and refusing to comply with a police officer’s order.</p>
<p>A $750 bench warrant had initially been issued to Kaeo after Judge
Blaine Kobayashi asked him four times to give his name in English during
a court hearing in January. Judge Kobayashi had already granted a
request from the prosecution to have Kaeo’s trial conducted in English.</p>
<p>A day later, the warrant was recalled and the state Judiciary changed
its policy for Hawaiian interpreters. The state agreed to provide or
permit qualified interpreters <span class="gmail-quotations">“to the extent reasonably possible.”</span></p>
<p>Kaeo’s case was reassigned to Judge Kelsey Kawano, who ordered an
interpreter for the trial. Kaeo, however, objected to the new date and
asked that his case be dismissed because more than six months has passed
since his arrest.</p>
<p><span class="gmail-quotations">“I’m asking the judiciary to recognize my civil rights,”</span> he said through an interpreter.</p>
<p>Kawano told Kaeo, who is representing himself, that he must file a
motion to the court. After Wednesday’s hearing, Kaeo blamed the
prosecution for pushing his trial back due to its motion to have the
trial in English.</p>
<p>Maui County Prosecutor J.D. Kim could not be reached immediately Wednesday for comment.</p>
<p><span class="gmail-quotations">“I really don’t understand why the trial is
being pushed back so far into the beginning of summer, which would make
it by then nine months from when I was arrested,”</span> Kaeo said. <span class="gmail-quotations">“The
judge did say I could submit a motion to challenge that so I think for
my rights as a defendant I need to explore all possibilities.”</span></p>
<p>Kaeo said the Judiciary’s policy is still a little unclear and
demanded it ensures there is a well-trained supply of Hawaiian
translators. He said the number of native speakers is increasing, and
the politics of Native Hawaiian rights are becoming central in many
court cases.</p>
<p><span class="gmail-quotations">“This is not a new standard,”</span> he said. <span class="gmail-quotations">“This
is returning to what was once the central language of the court system.
The rights of our people to use Hawaiian is not just codified in the
state constitution, but we have argued that under the human rights law
that we have a right in Hawaii to defend ourselves through Hawaiian.
It’s the responsibility of the court system to provide that and
guarantee we have the best ability to defend ourselves.”</span></p></section>
<br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>