3-2 RULING

HIGH COURT WRONG ON PARENTAL DISCIPLINE

If I beat my neighbor with a brush, a coat hanger, a tool handle and a backpack, I'll be charged with criminal assault, and I'll face five to 10 years incarceration.

But, if I do the same thing to my own child, it's not a crime at all. Because, according to Chief Justice Ronald Moon, a beating isn't really a beating if your child is involved, it's just "parental discipline."

If you have to hit your teen-ager with four different implements because she isn't truthful, you lost control a long time ago, and you are never getting it back.

Justice Moon is wrong when he condones parental beating, and shockingly naive if he thinks this decision doesn't give drunk, high, abusive and bad-tempered parents permission to punch and hit their children with dangerous weapons. Of course it's a precedent; does the chief justice really think parents will read the 44-page decision to see just how many blows they can mete out before they might be convicted of a crime?

I've been a criminal defense attorney for 30 years. I'll tell you the end result of beating children: They become my clients.

TRANSIT

RAIL WILL WORK, SAVING US TIME AND MONEY

We've been bombarded with suggestions and recommendations for "Beat the School Jam."

Even so, I find myself wasting my valuable time and money in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

But while I sit in my car, going 10 miles an hour at best, one thing clearly comes to mind. If we had built rail 20 years ago, we wouldn't be debating its merits or its cost. We would be planning for additional rail lines to Hawai'i Kai and the Windward side.

Rail will work, and rail will save us time and money in the long run.

'PROPHECY AND HONOR'

PLAY REVIEW BELITTLED FINE PERFORMANCES

Joseph Rozmiarek's review (Aug. 18) of "Prophecy and Honor" was blatantly unfair, and suggests he walked into the theater determined to trash the production.

To charge that the play was not stageworthy because Broadway and Hollywood guest stars Richard Dreyfuss and George Segal "read" some of their lines from pages of the script is ridiculous. To claim that their performances hampered the human drama of the play is equally absurd.

Rozmiarek failed to mention that the playbill contained a prominently placed notice that "this production, with full costumes, lighting, props and dramatic staging allows actors with copious amounts of historically accurate dialogue to work from the script at their discretion."

Finally, in addition to belittling the wonderful performances of Mr. Dreyfuss and Mr. Segal, to fail to mention in the review the fine performances of Terence Knapp, Don Stroud, David Farmer, Teresa Moore and Frank DeLima again smacks of a reviewer whose intention from the outset was to give no praise, where it was clearly deserved.

The full-house audiences at all four performances responded to the play with standing ovations. Now, that's a review worth noting.

PLAY ABOUT MITCHELL WAS DISAPPOINTING

I attended a disappointing "Prophecy and Honor" at the Hawaii Theatre last week.

For the visiting stars to perform the play as though they were doing a reading for an audition, albeit a long one, was not appropriate for a highly publicized performance at our premier theater.

Perhaps it should have been promoted as such, rather than with just a little disclaimer in the evening's program. Terry Knapp, mesmerizing as Father Damien at Manoa Valley Theatre, surprisingly was also reading.

Joe Moore had his lines down, but was stiff and brought no conflict to what I have always understood to be a very conflicted character toward the end of his career. I would have thought Joe would have had a field day with Billy Mitchell.

The two performances I thought stole the show were Bob Whiting, as the nervous, self-deprecating but perhaps a little sly reporter, and Rico Tudor as the angry Ely, who seemed to have a concealed admiration for Billy Mitchell.

TRAINING 'CITY'

MARINES OWN BELLOWS, DON'T NEED PERMISSION

There are lots of 18- and 19- year-old Marines on their second and third tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What is wrong with some of the Waimanalo residents who are angry that the Marines are "building a city" to train these troops so they can hopefully survive this terrible war?

The Marines own Bellows. It is a training base; they don't need to get permission.

After all, they are not fighting on the streets and beachfronts of Waimanalo.

DISREPAIR

SMALL-BOAT HARBORS PART OF TOURIST INDUSTRY

Your article on the sorry state of our boat harbors, while factual, didn't go far enough.

Our state's income is largely dependent on the tourism industry. Those people come to the Islands to experience Hawai'i. They go to our small-boat harbors in droves to go sportfishing, snorkeling, diving and to experience our dolphin- and whale-watching tours.

Many of the visitors in Waikiki can be seen strolling around the Ala Wai Boat Harbor admiring the boats. Some of what they see is embarrassing.

As a small-boat owner who frequents Wai'anae several times a week, I see at least 150 tourists going on fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling or dolphin excursions daily.

Those activities are major attractions that draw tourists. They bring money into the general fund.

The administration needs to recognize that and make certain that our harbors, like the rest of our tourist attractions, are maintained properly and with pride. Boat harbors deserve a portion of that tourist income for maintenance and repair.