Pretrial inmates settle in right-to-vote case.

On the day of the 2000 general election, William Remmers Jr. was being held at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center awaiting trial on a felony drunken driving charge. He had signed up to vote, but when he asked for a ballot, the prison staff told him they didn't have one and to file a grievance. Remmers did more than that. With the encouragement of late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink and with help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i, Remmers filed a lawsuit in 2002 alleging violations of the constitutional right to vote for him and at least 10 other inmates. Recently, the ACLU and the state reached an out-of-court settlement that would pay up to $5,000 to Remmers and other OCCC pretrial detainees who were denied a chance to vote in the 2000 elections.The settlement also calls for state prison officials to ensure that people in jail awaiting trial will be able to vote in future elections. The settlement must be approved by a federal judge. [more]