Opinion
SCPW-21-0000651
12-27-2021
JANIS B. GRIFFIN, Petitioner, v. THE HONORABLE BRIAN COSTA, Judge of the Family Court of the First Circuit, State of Hawai'i, Respondent Judge.
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
Recktenwald, C.J., Nakayama, McKenna, Wilson, and Eddins, JJ.
ORDER DENYING PETITIONS FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS
Upon consideration of petitioner Janis B. Griffin's petitions for writ of mandamus, and the attached supporting documents, petitioner fails to demonstrate a clear and indisputable right to relief from this court and has alternative means to seek relief, including seeking relief as directed by the family court. At this juncture, petitioner presents no basis for this court's intervention through the issuance of an extraordinary writ. See Kema v. Gaddis, 91 Hawai'i 200, 204-05, 982 P.2d 334, 338-39 (1999) (a writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy that will not issue unless the petitioner demonstrates a clear and indisputable right to relief and a lack of alternative means to redress adequately the alleged wrong or obtain the requested action; such a writ is meant to restrain a judge of an inferior court who has exceeded his or her jurisdiction, has committed a flagrant and manifest abuse of discretion, or has refused to act on a subject properly before the court under circumstances in which he or she has a legal duty to act). Accordingly, It is ordered that the petitions for writ of mandamus are denied.