In the Interest of Doe

LEVINSON, Justice.

The present appeal requires us to answer the following significant question of first impression in this jurisdiction: What are the constitutional constraints placed upon the state’s power to prosecute a criminal defendant for the offense of “harassment,” in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 711—1106(1)(b) (1985),1 by the “fighting *89words” doctrine originally enunciated in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568, 62 S.Ct. 766, 86 L.Ed. 1031 (1942)? The issue arises in the context of the juvenile-appellant John Doe’s (the Minor) claim that the evidence presented at…