Remote and Rural Justice

• Citation: Vol. 16 No. 11
• Publication year: 2012
• Year: 2012
• topic: District of columbia,Civil Procedure

Remote and Rural Justice

by Hon. Adrianne N. Heely

As my first months of being sworn in to serve as a District Court Judge for the Second Judicial District (Maui), came to an end, I felt obligated to share my experiences with the the legal community. Specifically, I felt the need to share the well-established, yet less known, experiences and ways the Judiciary travels to, and provides access to justice to the rural and remote communities in the County of Maui, including, the robust town of Lahaina; remote community of Hana; the pineapple island of Lana'i; and the friendly isle of Moloka'i. This article describes travel to and monthly the District Court calendars of Lana'i District Court, Hana District Court, and Moloka'i District Court.¹

Lana'i District Court

At my swearing- in ceremony on Monday, May 14, 2012, I was reminded that I would be sitting on the bench on Lana'i on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, and I had to meet the sheriffs in the cellblock at 5:30 a.m., to have them drive me out to Lahaina Harbor to catch the 6:45 a.m. ferry ride to Lana'i. On May 15, 2012, I woke up without an alarm, and made my way down to the Wailuku Courthouse, got my files for the day and met the sheriffs at the cellblock with robe in one hand and briefcase in the other. The sheriff then told me, "Judge, no robe on Lana'i." I was wondering if they were playing a joke on me, but it turns out they weren't. Historically, the presiding judges on Lana'i would not travel with and/or wear their robes. (I later found out there are robes out in Lahaina, Hana, and Moloka'i Courthouses for the presiding judges to use After getting in the state-issued car with the sheriffs, we had two other stops: to pick up the court clerk and the bailiff along the way. We all travel together to the Lahaina harbor to make our way to the Manele harbor in Lana'i. As for the travel to Lana'i, to save on costs, the Judiciary staff no longer takes an airplane to and from Lana'i every third Tuesday of the month, instead, the court staff carpools to Lahaina boat harbor to catch the 6:45 a.m. departing ferry ride, which arrives one hour later in Lana'i harbor. The court staff then piles in a van that drives us up to the Lana'i town courthouse. Court starts at 9:00 a.m. and if there are no trials for the day, finishes well before the 2:00 p.m. ferry ride back to Lahaina.

Traveling with the sheriffs and court staff to Lahaina harbor is a great way to catch up on the latest entertainment news, and also make final...