Hawaii’s governor responds to deadly fireworks blast with proposed $300 fines, more prison time
HONOLULU– Hawaii Governor Josh Green on Monday proposed a series of new penalties to crack down on those who flout the state’s fireworks laws, nearly two weeks after a fireworks explosion at a Honolulu home on New Year’s Eve four people killed And about 20 injured others.
The potential new measures include $300 tickets that police can issue to those who shoot off fireworks, and class A misdemeanor charges and decades in prison for those whose use of fireworks results in serious injury or death. The governor plans to include the proposals in a bill he will send to lawmakers for the new legislative session that begins Wednesday.
“We want to stop people from doing this. Three hundred dollars is probably going to have a chilling effect on a lot of young people, I would expect,” Green said at a news conference. “But I hope that everyone will pause for a moment if they have a serious crime to their name and have to serve a prison sentence.”
State and county officials have done just that has struggled for years to curb illegal fireworks in Hawaii, where it has become common for people to launch professional aerial explosives from the streets in front of their homes all year round. Law enforcement officers have seized £227,000 (103,000 kilograms) of fireworks since 2023, largely from container ships in ports, but also from packages shipped by air. The director of the state Department of Law Enforcement said last week that authorities are intercepting U.S. Postal Service packages containing illegal fireworks almost every day.
New Year’s is a particularly active time for contraband fireworks. They usually result in injuries and in some years people have been killed, but the beginning of this year has been deadlier than ever.
Green said his proposals were aimed at streamlining and clarifying Hawaii’s fireworks laws so prosecutors can obtain convictions more quickly and successfully.
Under the proposal, police who issue $300 in fines would not have to collect evidence. They just needed a witness — a police officer or someone else — to identify the person who set off the fireworks, said Tricia Nakamatsu, deputy attorney general. This would be particularly useful for law enforcement, as evidence in fireworks cases often goes up in smoke.
The person who receives a ticket pays the fine or goes to court to contest it, just like a traffic ticket.
This offense would not be a crime and would therefore decriminalize the low-level use of fireworks. Crucially, courts only need a preponderance of evidence to impose a fine. That contrasts with a criminal charge that prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt to obtain a conviction.
“The citations themselves can also be issued much, much faster. There is no need for an officer to return to the office to write reports, collect evidence or submit for investigation,” Nakamatsu said. This would help officers get back on the road faster, she added.
The governor’s team came up with a figure of $300, as that is currently the fine imposed on those who use cell phones while driving. The principle in both cases is similar, she said, in that both actions could kill one or more people.
For the harsher penalties, the governor is proposing to impose harsher penalties on repeat offenders and those who cause serious injury or death with their fireworks. This would apply to those who import illegal fireworks, to those who buy and sell them and to the end user who sets them off.
Possession of more than 50 pounds of fireworks is currently a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to five years in prison in Hawaii.
The increased charges could lead to convictions for Class A felonies, which under Hawaiian law are punishable by up to 20 years to life in prison.
“When people take the life of an innocent soul in their neighborhood, they will be held accountable and will spend a significant amount of time in prison,” Green said.
The governor said he understands people enjoy the fireworks display, but he said it must be done in a safe manner. He said he would support more public fireworks shows throughout the year so people can still watch fireworks.
The Department of Law Enforcement last week lawmakers asked for $5.2 million to hire eight people and expand a forensic laboratory to tackle fireworks smuggling.