The Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney typically does not issue news releases for asset forfeitures.
But last week, the department alerted local news agencies that it had filed an administrative petition for asset forfeiture with the state Department of the Attorney General relating to some $63,000 in cash that was recovered during a raid on an illegal game room in Kalihi on May 8.
The release was notable not just for the filing itself but for its function as a vessel for the office’s opposition to a bill currently before Gov. Josh Green that would put an end to asset forfeitures in the particular circumstances of this case…