The Associated Press

INMATES RELOCATED AFTER SEX ASSAULTS

HONOLULU - All of the Hawaii inmates who were housed at a Kentucky prison where authorities say women were sexually assaulted by staff have been relocated.

Officials say 128 inmates returned to Oahu on Tuesday night. One inmate was transferred directly to another out-of-state prison, and 40 previously made the trip back to Hawaii.

The transfer happened after 23 female inmates, including seven from Hawaii, alleged they were sexually assaulted at the Otter Creek Correctional Center, a private prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

Six prison workers have been indicted in the case.

Hawaii had sent inmates out of state to cut costs. Now they're being housed at the Federal Detention Center near Honolulu International Airport and the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua.

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JUDGE RULES THAT LAW SHIELDS FILMMAKER

HONOLULU - A state judge on Kauai has ruled state law shields independent filmmaker Keoni Kealoha Alvarez from responding to subpoenas or being deposed in a lawsuit involving a property dispute.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Joseph Brescia had sought to build on land where 30 graves had been discovered.

He was blocked by the courts, but Brescia sued people he claimed delayed his project.

Brescia also subpoenaed Alvarez's unpublished interviews and raw video footage. Alvarez is not a party in the suits but he had been documenting Native Hawaiian burial practices.

Alvarez and the ACLU invoked the state shield law, which was enacted last year.

Kauai Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe ruled in favor of Alvarez last week.

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TWO PANEL MEMBERS BACK AKAKA BILL

HONOLULU - Two members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights are announcing support for legislation in Congress that would create a process for establishing an independent government for Native Hawaiians.

Last week, a majority of six commissioners signed a letter reiterating their opposition to the so-called Akaka Bill, named for its chief sponsor, U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii.

The commission chairman and three other Republican members signed the letter along with two independents. The panel voted in 2006 to oppose a previous version of the measure.

But on Monday, Democrats Arlan Melendez and Michael Yaki wrote their own letter. The commissioners called the bill a ''momentous step'' toward reconciliation between the federal government and Native Hawaiians.