JUDGE YEARNS FOR LESS TALK IN COURTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00494R001100710041-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 26, 2010
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: July 31, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/07/26: CIA-RDP90-00494RO01100710041-3 Star Bulletin
0 Wednesday, July 31, 1985 A-3
Judge Yearns for Less Talk in Courts
- Need Is for More Federal Judges, Plus
M
QY S uMwrow
If U.S. Judge Harold Fong has
h 1y. Lawyers will be doing a
I(. ?. tending in tederd courts
h The probless 4 thot,there are
too. many cues and net enough
judges to allow Iew~rars Ike ualiaited "elocution' during
h the trial amore beard mo
'1 have faand that Hawaii Y
probably one of the most liberal
didsieb, at least In the 9th Cir6
cult if tact, to fact. in the cools
try, whteh allows oral elocution
almost as a matter at right.,.
Fong said.
Fong made by onameMs
terday during. one of the tear
interviews he has gives ainee be
was =Oil to the federal
t> &tt ii5bcoeeet haitss ilk on the
fourth near of the federal cowl,
house. Fong discussed a number
of problems and Issues be faces
as chief judge of the federal dis-
trict court
HIS MAIN problem is the
small amber of Judass bare,
OfficLlly, he is slide only, active
Jeri-nl Judge
J SaatuM Milli and Martin
I haw are on snew "auk
wnw:b means they work wh n
tbay w Jos And even though
King asd-4i+mce.both beep full
calesidare;-aasat..aE the Year.
there so M we wait, cep
Some 4141,11, -is takm
a lrt Prep! said
the is that slow Pont at
which two judgeship vacaaoia
are being filled.
Until. gslpi, amt, Pang said he
has to tabs other ma.uree to
make ern things run =Deathly.
The beg way to ease the burden
is for lawyers to do loss talking,
Fong sad.
"One of my main concerns
right now Is changing our rules
to limit, maybe even severely
limit, the oral elocution (of attor-
neys)," he said.
Lawyers state their positions
in writing but generally are al-
lowed also to address the judge
in person and often cover
Around already stated in the
documentsy. Under Fong's pro-
posed ch~g, many ~ on the
world be decdad
information in the documents.
g bats to
In the ==I"
sit back when his
courts will be brought up to full
staff. He said he only knows of
one possible nomination which is
"going forward" in considera-
tion.
HE WOULD not say who that
epportted is, in Junbut the e that Albert
Moon Jr. has been undergoing ^
background check nary
to an appointment as a federal
judge- said he finds the situa-
tion "di treeing' because one
position has been open for more
than a year and the second has
been available since King retired
In December. But Fong said
there is little beg can do to help
'",Tudee Kin4=p= and
mmyysseelf haye our-
setve to ally out at the select
tion process. Fong aid. "That
means the process, of either
go
reconmiesding that *-name
forward ... or that we exerc
Ise
any kind of a veto. of all,
we don't have than power and
second, we shouldn't ethically do
so. What we do have the power
to do to give our opinions about
the three areas that we should
be concerned with: integrity,
judicial competence and judicial
teF~ conceded that the judge-
Some Curbs on
ship a intments are a matter
of politics "because a ,politician
has to make the choice.
FEDERAL judges are appoint-
ed by the president for life but
have to be approved by the U.S.
Senate.
While the system is political,
Fong said that once a person be-
comes a judge, his political affili-
ation becomes less tmpartant
The Irony of the situation b that
the political party pushes its
candidate for judgeship but once
the person is appointed, he can
no longer support the party
locally, Fong said.
It almost seems to be a slap
in their face to say, 'Thank you
but don't call me any longer be-
cause now that I've gotten this
lifetime job you can't get at me
unless I commit some malfea-
sance,'" Fong said.
It was a steady climb with
very few setbacks that carried
Fs position as Hawaii's
co hief federal judge.
He was graduated from St.
Louis High School and the
University of Southern Califor-
nia. In 1980, he was named a
member of Pi Sigma Alpha, a
national political science honor
society.
After graduating from the
University of Michigan Law
School, Fong returned to Hawaii
and joined the Hawaii Bar As-
sociation in 1986. Fong jumped
into Island legal and political life
with a flare. He put in a stint
with the city prosecutor's office,
was elected chairman of the
Oahu Young Republicans in
1989. At the age of 31 he was
sworn in as an assistant U.S.
attorney.
IT WAS WITH that job that
Fong first became involved with
the prosecution of major organ.
ized crime figures in the state.
'Oral Elocution'
His prosecution of Wilford
"Nappy" Pulawa resulted in the
longest prison sentence ever
handed down in a tax case - 24
years. That was later reduced to
15 years and some people, even
government attorneys, seemed to
forget that that was Fong's case.
In a recent court hearing,
Fong energetically, and to some
observer, somewhat angrily, re-
minded attorneys on the Federal
Organised Crime Strike Force
that they were not breaking new
ground in their prosecution.
"My remark tto the attorneys)
was a recollection on my part
that, in the Pulawa case, that
case was worked up by me,"
Fong said. "When I became U.S.
attorney rook it upon myself to
actually t that case and I only
asked the strike force ... to
come in to handle the documen-
tary evidence. I was the one
who questioned (crime figures)
Clarence Handa and Roy Ryder
and Sharkey Fellez and the like.
"When I left the U.S attor-
ney's office it was tunny when I
read in the paper how the strike
force said that this was their
case and that they were the
ones who instigated it."
FONG HAS been involved in
very tittle controversy over the
years. His only major brush
came during the Kukui Plaza
investigation in 1977.
Mayor Frank Fast had been in-
dicted by a state grand jury on
bribery charges and the state
attorney general, Ronald Ame-
mlya, also had asked Fong as
U.S. attorney to seek a federal
indictment. I
Instead, Fong got a mail and
wire fraud indictment against
Hal Hansen, the late Kukui Plaza
developer who state prosecutors
hoped would be their key wit-
ness against Fait
Fong denied that the Hansen
indictment was an attempt by
him to protect the mayor, as
some had said.
Hansen later refused to testify
and charges against Faai were
dropped.
Fong resigned from the U.S.
attorney's office in 1977 after
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, was
elected president.
Five year. later Pve dent Rea-
gan nominated Feag for the UJk
months of delay In bill confirma-
tion, Fong was sworn in as Ha-
waii's second full-tine federal
judge an July 6, 1942. He
credited the Kukui Plaza contro-
verily as one of the reasons his
confirmation was held up.
Fong says now that his back-
ground as a prosecutor has help-
ed him to become fairer as a
judge.
"BECAUSE I had a back-
ground in prosecution, I made a
more conscientious effort to ...
give a fair shake to defense
counsel and defendants," he
said.
His methods have been suc-
cessful. The 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals has yet to over-
turn any of his judgments in
criminal cases. He also has not
been overturned in sentences he
has imposed or In the manner in
which he handled trials.
"There have been reversals on
rulings, motions and the like,"
he said. but otherwise, his
record is good Fong is respon-
sible for the smooth running of
the courts. He has agreed to try
a new sophisticated audio
recording system in one court-
room because of a shortage of
court reporters.
He said "somebody in Wash-
ington" decides how many of
the stenographers can be hired
here and that there are not
Judge Harold Fong
Needs more bulges
enough. The new recording sys-
tem will allow a court record to
be made without a traditional
court reporter, he said.
Fong doesn't envision cametjas
moving into Hawaii's federal
courts anytime soon, as t v
have in the state courts. He di
the decision is up to the c f
justice of the U .S., who has s5~d
"no" to cameras.
Fong said he would like to oe
the results of the state test ' f
cameras in the courts before : . be
makes up his mind on usijjg
them in federal courts
It is clear, however, that the
first things Fong would like to
see coming into his courtroogts
are not cameras, but mate
judges
Approved For Release 2010/07/26: CIA-RDP90-00494RO01100710041-3