UIPA request to Hawaiʻi Police Department on enhanced traffic enforcement scheme relating to Mauna Kea Thirty Meter Telescope demonstrations

On December 9, 2019, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi submitted a request for public records under the Hawaiʻi Uniform Information Practices Act, HRS § 92F (“UIPA”) to the Hawaiʻi Police Department regarding its enhanced traffic enforcement efforts on Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Route 200), which began in August 2019 in response to demonstrations surrounding the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. The ACLU of Hawaiʻi made this request given how close — both temporally and geographically—the traffic enforcement scheme was to ongoing demonstrations on Mauna Kea (which heightened in July 2019), suggesting potential infringement of First Amendment activity. In January 2020, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi received emails and internal memoranda in response to its UIPA request, which are available below.

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