Census worker taken to court for trespassing

Private propery rights still exist in Hawaii, go figure.

HONOLULU – Census worker Russell Haas has come to expect a little resistance when he goes door to door to count the residents of the rugged communities near Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. He didn't expect to get arrested.

An attempt to get one resident, a county police officer, to fill out Census forms landed Haas in the back of a patrol car with a trespassing charge.

The case is now in federal court, the latest example of disputes this year between Census workers protected by federal law and residents who don't want to deal with them. It has created a rare instance in which federal prosecutors have stepped in to serve as criminal defense attorneys.