How is occupying the governor's office tresspassing?

I think occupying a politicians’ office is not trespassing, ethically speaking.
Legally speaking, it probably is.
That’s why these types of actions are called civil disobedience. They’re choosing to disobey, out of respect to a higher ethic. A tradition of civil disobedience is accepting the outcome of the actions, while of course planning more actions.

There are legal ways to protest where you won’t get in trouble. An example of that would be the DC. Tea Party that protested the health reform bill. They gathered around and held bill boards on public streets but they did not keep people from physically doing their jobs. Staying in the Governors office would disrupt people from doing their jobs. We all also pay for social security but if we went into the building and became disruptive we would be kicked out. If we were all allowed to sit in an office every-time someone didn’t like something that was being done, then nothing would ever be done. Their will always be people on the opposite side of almost any issue. One can still go door to door and get petitions signed or stand on a corner with signs to get voters on your side.
The White House is paid by tax payers. Good luck to anyone just walking right in without approval.

<——bitter ex-local government employee

If they had peaceably occupied the smoking deck, more people would have seen them, and they wouldn’t have been arrested.

This is going to be a lengthy explanation, but I think to really understand why the government can do what it does, you have to understand the full scope of what a public forum is and what it isn’t.

A public forum is place where people are able to express their First Amendment rights. Public forums are generally split into two groups: traditional versus designated forums (btw, these aren’t legal terms of art). The traditional forum is one where there has been a history of people being able to use as a place to express their 1st Amendment rights. The most basic example of this is a sidewalk.

On the other hand, a designated forum is a place that the government has specifically set up for the purpose of free speech. This sort of forum has not traditionally been used as a forum for expression. A basic example of this would be a city council meeting room where they allow certain groups to use or certain topics to be discussed.

Finally, we have the non-public forum. This is a place that is not designated as a forum for free speech nor is it in the category of traditional public forums. Examples of this include public schools, military bases and governmental offices. Here, the government may restrict only the content (topics like abortion) of free speech, but cannot restrict the viewpoint (think either pro/against abortion) of the speech.

You’ve probably already figured out where state capitol offices fall. As an office space, the governor’s office is a non-public forum. The government never designated his office as a place for free speech nor is it a traditional place where citizens may voice their opinions. Thus, the government may restrict access.

Here’s how the case will probably play out: the prosecutor will allege that the protestors were trespassing. My understanding of Hawaii’s criminal trespass statute is that ”[a] person commits the offense of simple trespass if the person knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises.” In this case, I’d say the protestors in your question probably knew they were someplace they were not supposed to be. The protestors would counter w/the free speech argument, then the prosecutors would rebut with the non-public forum argument.

@bobloblaw Thanks. What you say makes sense.

But I don’t agree with it in this case. There are separate rooms in the governor’s office, and they were in the outer “reception” one, not the one where she actually does work.

@lilikoi I don’t know the exact particulars, but the reception area is probably not a traditional public forum nor did it sound like they designated it to be used as a free speech forum.

As an attoreny I can tell you that if Hawaii is like the other 49 states in the union it is clearly and unarguably trespass if the protesters are told to leave, which I assume that they are. It may or may not be admirable civil disobedience but it is a crime.

@Seek_Kolinahr LMAO. So true. :D