Here, again, is that press release from Oct 31, 2008:
———————— BEGIN STATEMENT ————————————
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release
LINDA LINGLE
GOVERNOR
CHIYOME LEINAALA FUKINO M.D.
DIRECTOR
Phone: (808) 586-4410
Fax: (808) 586-4444
For Immediate Release: October 31, 2008 08-93
STATEMENT BY DR. CHIYOME FUKINO
“There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama’s official birth certificate. State law (Hawai’i Revised Statutes §338-18) prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record.
“Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai’i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.
“No state official, including Governor Linda Lingle, has ever instructed that this vital record be handled in a manner different from any other vital record in the possession of the State of Hawai’i.”
###
For more information, contact:
Janice Okubo
Communications Office
Phone: (808) 586-4442
———————— END STATEMENT ————————————
What was that? Was it a verification? And where is it covered in the statutes?
It’s a press release. It’s not a verification in lieu of a certified copy.
HRS 338-14.3 was amended in 2010, so it probably wouldn’t have applied in 2008 when Fukino made that statement. Regardless, 338-18 already has language regarding verifications being issued in leiu of certified copies of records so I’m curious what 338-14.3 originally said and why and how it was amended in 2010. Plus, with all the information that is contained in that verification, why can’t Hawaii simply issue a full copy of the actual birth record?? There shouldn’t be anything left to protect and as has always been the case, this would be at the discretion of the director of health and protected under the UIPA. There’s no compelling legal reason for Hawaii to keep treating the original record as a protected record unless it contains information that is inaccurate or that has been redacted by Obama through his forgeries.