Tokens of affection: Every once in a while The Sunshine Blog encounters something that just makes us scratch our head and say huh? Not really a full-blown WTF. More of a you’re kidding, right? Huh.

Such was the case last week when a loyal Blog fan sent us a picture of a badge — the gold shield, police-type badge that an actual officer of the law might show you right before they slap the cuffs on. Only this one was issued to a member of the Hawaiʻi Correctional System Oversight Commission, which the last time The Blog looked was a collection of citizens (including a couple of long-retired judges) who definitely have no authority to detain or arrest anyone.

This of course triggered The Blog’s usual raising of eyebrows and a general inclination to get to the bottom of it. It turns out that the issuing of gold-shield badges to non-law enforcement officers has quite a colorful history in the islands and, despite the scandal and corruption associated with the practice in years gone by, continues today. You gotta love Hawaiʻi.

First, the history. Once upon a time, in the 1980s, there was a colorful character everyone, including the press, called Tom “Fat Boy” Okuda. He was deputy administrator of the state court system but had declared himself “high sheriff” as well as head of the Traffic Violations Bureau. Okuda loved to hand out police badges to his friends, including numerous legislators (Ben Cayetano, do you still have yours? Send a picture please!) Okuda also fixed tickets and did other political favors on occasion.

In 1986, a blue-ribbon panel investigating the court system blew the whistle on Okuda’s reign and reforms followed. Those clearly needed changes came thanks in no small part to our good friend Ian Lind, who was the head of Common Cause Hawaiʻi at the time and along with GOP Sen. Fred Hemmings kept the pressure on until someone finally did something about it.

A few years later Okuda was convicted of 13 misdemeanor counts of fixing tickets and finally gave up the court administrative job in 1990. But the badges continued to be cherished by those who still had them. One former judge even requested his be buried with him when he died.

Read much more about the Okuda political machine in a column Lind wrote for Civil Beat 10 years ago. But The Blog would like to point out this particular passage as a cautionary tale for those who are issuing badges today:

“Key legislators, including chairs of committees that handled the judiciary budget, were given badges that allowed them free parking at the airport and other state properties, as well as the right to carry firearms,” Lind wrote. “Okuda argued that distributing badges to legislators made them more aware of issues impacting the Sheriff’s Office, a view soundly rejected by subsequent investigations. Whether it accomplished that isn’t clear, but it did create deep and long lasting personal loyalty that led many legislators to stand by Okuda throughout the evolving scandal and beyond.”

So you can see why The Blog was a little surprised to hear that badges are still being issued in certain non-law enforcement circles 40 years later and at a time when abuse of power and political corruption are still very much in vogue (not to mention bad guys posing as law enforcement officers to rip people off. Or worse.)

Not only does the corrections oversight commission give commissioners and staff shiny gold badges, so does the Honolulu Police Commission and the Honolulu Fire Commission. And The Blog didn’t have time to check with other counties so please let us know if it’s going on there as well.

Christin Johnson, the oversight coordinator for the correctional system commission, tells The Blog that she has been giving out the badges since she joined the staff in 2022. They cost $120 per badge. All five commissioners and four staff members including Johnson have them now.

“No, we are not a law enforcement agency,” Johnson says in an email. “The badge is not about projecting authority over others, but about ensuring access, safety, recognition, and legitimacy in a secure environment where quick and unquestioned identification is essential. Our badges are clearly differentiated in design from law enforcement badges, with appropriate markings such as ‘Correctional System Oversight Commission,’ ‘Commissioner,’ ‘Oversight Coordinator,’ or ‘Staff,’ and without misleading elements like ‘Police,’ ‘Law Enforcement,’ or ‘Sheriff.’ This eliminates confusion while preserving the practical function of identification and access facilitation.”

Johnson argues the badges are necessary for the commission and staff to provide effective monitoring of jail and prison operations and that they definitely come in handy when visiting a facility where nothing says authority like a gold shield.

“It is critical that our Commissioners and personnel have immediate, recognized, and unimpeded access to all correctional facilities under our jurisdiction. … Without such a recognizable and standardized credential, corrections staff may question the legitimacy of our presence or mistakenly deny access, undermining the Commission’s independence and ability to conduct effective investigations and monitoring.” (Emphasis hers.)

In fact, the badges are only to be used in correctional facilities or on specific commission business elsewhere, Johnson says.

The Blog had heard talk that Honolulu police commissioners also had been issued badges for years and so our next call was to the city. Spokesman Ian Scheuring checked around and found out that, yep, police and fire commissioners have gotten badges. He included a couple of photos for us, too.

On the Police Commission: “These badges clearly do exist, have been issued to commissioners in the past, and my understanding is that the Honolulu Police Commission staff currently have several of the badges in storage — but none of the current Honolulu Police Commission members have a badge that has been issued to them,” Scheuring says via email. “I am unaware of a situation that would necessitate a commission member carrying their badge full time for identification, or a situation where they would need to display a badge instead of their normal Honolulu Police Commission identification card.”

Cost to taxpayers: $130 per badge.

On the Fire Commission: “All of the current commissioners were issued badges when they were sworn in, and they are primarily used to help identify commissioners when they visit HFD facilities,” Scheuring says.

Cost to taxpayers: $190 and they come with cool black leather holders, too.

So there you have it. The Blog knows you’re dying to say it so go ahead: they don’t need no stinkin’ badges. Or do they?

Travelin’ man: Former University of Hawaiʻi President David Lassner sure traveled a lot for the job. That’s one takeaway from the latest gift and travel financial disclosure statements filed with the Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission.

Lassner, who retired last year, reported accepting more gifts than any other state official in his 2025 filing: 73 gifts at a value of $36,096. They included travel to the Association of the Pacific Rim Universities Annual President’s Meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, and to the Global Universities Presidents and Leaders Summit in Hong Kong.

Non-travel gifts for Lassner included a Japanese cultural doll and display case valued at $150 from Tsuzuki Gakuen Group.

Three state senators also made the Top 5 in terms of gifts: Donna Kim (15 gifts valued at $27,182), Donovan Dela Cruz (eight gifts valued at $19,711) and Troy Hashimoto (16 gifts valued at $19,693).

Kim’s travel included a trip to Seoul for the 10th Global Korean Politicians Forum. Dela Cruz’s included going to Altoona, Iowa, for the State Ag and Rural Leaders Chairs Summit. And Hashimoto’s included flying to Sonoma, California, for the USA Wildfire Leadership Summit.

Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez reported six gifts valued at $18,246. They included visiting Washington, D.C., for a Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellows program. The nonpartisanship program is named for former governors Jim Hunt (D-N.C.) and Tom Kean (R-N.J.)

And current UH President Wendy Hensel ranked just behind the AG in terms of disclosures — 60 gifts valued at $13,490. They included a trip to Tokyo to discuss Japan-Hawaiʻi relations, to host a UH Alumni lunch and evening event, and to participate in a “philanthropy stakeholder partnership.”

Hensel also reported receiving a number of books, including “The Art and Politics of Academic Governance: Relations among Boards, Presidents, and Faculty” by Kenneth P. Mortimer (a past UH President) and Colleen O’Brien Sathre ($66).

One more gift of note for Hensel: Kauai Sweet Shoppe caramels, a Mānoa Chocolate Co. liliko‘i passion fruit chocolate bar, Island Harvest organic macadamia nuts with sea salt and ‘Ulu Mana Inc. Crunchy ‘Ulu Chips in Cool Lime. The treats, valued at $40.48, came courtesy the University of Hawaiʻi Professional Assembly, the faculty union. The president shared them in her office with guests.

DC 808: We’re kicking off what we hope will be a weekly roundup of what’s up with the Hawaiʻi congressional delegation and other happenings of local interest in our nation’s capital. All tips and suggestions welcome.

Here’s the latest from our former U.S. rep who now works for President Donald Trump as his director of national intelligence.

Tulsi Gabbard was recently in the doghouse with her boss for going public with her assessment that Iran was not close to developing nuclear weapons just before he launched a bombing attack based on the opposite belief. But it turns out all she had to do to get back in his good graces was accuse former President Barack Obama of treason.

She doubled down on that Wednesday, releasing a report that she said shows further evidence of a “treasonous conspiracy” on the part of Obama and others to falsely imply that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump get elected.

OK, the report was produced a few years ago by House Republicans, but still, Gabbard’s job approval rating at the White House is clearly on the upswing.

“She’s the hottest person in the room right now,” Trump said to House Speaker Mike Johnson at a White House press briefing Wednesday.

Johnson, by the way, gave House members an extra day of summer recess to avoid dealing with any more pesky calls for the release of the Epstein files, so you may see Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda back in the islands even as the Senate stays in session for one more week.

Case will be conducting one of his “Tele-Talk Story” events Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Here’s how to listen in and submit advance questions.

He’s also going to be at the State Capitol on Thursday at 10 a.m. to join the first of state Sen. Karl Rhoads’ public briefings on the Hawaiʻi impacts of Trump’s policies.

Case’s latest newsletter to constituents dropped Friday and he noted, “There are areas where I can work with the administration and current Congressional majority toward real results to real challenges, and I will pursue such efforts where possible.”

But he went on to reassure that he disagrees with the president the vast majority of the time.

Just in time for a new school year, Tokuda is teaming up with the state teachers union and ACLU of Hawaiʻi on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for a Zoom presentation, “Know Your Rights for Educators: Immigration Enforcement.”

You might also want to check out her “Questions for Your Congresswomen” videos on X. In episode 3 this week, she talks about the threat of school shootings and opines, “Congress is not doing enough.”

I had a productive conversation with the East-West Center’s new president, Celeste Connors, about their work to strengthen U.S. leadership, build regional partnerships, and train the next generation of Indo-Pacific leaders and experts. I look forward to working together to make… pic.twitter.com/snUdBak85x

— Senator Brian Schatz (@SenBrianSchatz) July 24, 2025

Over in the Senate, Brian Schatz tweeted, excuse us, X’d, about his meeting with Celeste Connors, the new president of the beleaguered East-West Center headquartered in Honolulu.

“I look forward to working together to make sure EWC gets the federal funding it needs,” Schatz said.

Mazie Hirono was active on social media, where she’s still going off on passage of the Trump tax bill with variations on this message: “Republicans voted to increase the national debt by over $3.3 trillion. Why? To provide their billionaire buddies with massive tax cuts.”