Court denies appeal in case about Native Hawaiian election
A federal court is dismissing an appeal in a case challenging efforts by Native Hawaiians to establish their own government.
Plaintiffs are trying to stop Native Hawaiian groups from drafting and approving documents about self-governance. They’re challenging a related election because it included only Native Hawaiians, saying it’s unconstitutional to hold a race-based election.
But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said today that the appeal was moot because the election had been canceled.
Last year, a group called Nai Aupuni tried to hold an election for 40 delegates who would draft a Native Hawaiian self-governance document. The poll was considered a major step toward self-governance. But another group sued Nai Aupuni and the U.S. Supreme Court issued an injunction in December to stop the election.
23 responses to “Court denies appeal in case about Native Hawaiian election”
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Agree that the case was moot. The election was dropped. Nobody buys the shibai of sovereignty anyway. Hawaiians moved on long ago with the media still sympathetic in a vague way.
“No body buys the “Shibai of sovereignty anyway.”
I do. And especially you should too! You got yours now ,we want out ours. And i’m not Japanese ie” Shibai. Though it kinda looks like the Japanese are the dominate species. Look around.I’m not lying and I’m not a racist,just look around. IMUA
I think Allie, that you should eschew the level of discourse most common on this forum and think about the AUP. “An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints>” I don’t necessarily disagree with what I think you were trying to say but the way you said it was superficial and jejune.
The substantive issues raised in the lawsuit have not been decided. This particular lawsuit has been dismissed because the race-based election was cancelled, making it no longer necessary for a court to stop the election. But if OHA et. al. decide to try again to hold a race-based election, then a similar lawsuit can be filed again to stop it.
http://us3.campaign-archive2.com/?u=f9a371d0547f107d938233d66&id=70283e2af2&e=b42938d9ce
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, news release, August 29, 2016
Grassroot Institute Affirms Results of Lawsuit Despite 9th Circuit Ruling
Watchdog group says suit has been successful in educating the public about problems with nation-building process
HONOLULU, HAWAII — (August 29, 2016) — In the wake of the latest ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii affirmed the overall results of the Akina v. State of Hawaii litigation. According to the Institute, the suit has been very successful in educating the public about the problems in the state’s nation-building process.
With the help of the group Judicial Watch, a group of Native Hawaiians and other concerned citizens brought suit against the state for launching an unconstitutional election. The plaintiffs then sought a preliminary injunction that would halt any race-based vote. Because the ratification of the Native Hawaiian Constitution has been indefinitely suspended — and because Na’i Aupuni, one of the defendants, has been dissolved — the Ninth Circuit dismissed the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction as moot.
“Overall, our litigation is achieving its objectives. Through the course of this lawsuit, we have seen the state cancel one unconstitutional election and postpone another one indefinitely,” stated Keli’i Akina, Ph.D., President of the Grassroot Institute and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “We have seen Na’i Aupuni — the organization that was created for the purpose of holding the election — shut down. And thanks to our efforts, more questions are being asked about how funds intended for the benefit of Native Hawaiians should be spent.”
Dr. Akina continued: “At present, we are reviewing all of our options regarding the decision in order to determine what our next step will be. We cannot forget that during oral arguments, the defendants claimed that OHA has set aside money for a ratification vote. The state has not yet discarded its disastrous nation-building plans, but this suit has put them on notice. We will not allow an unconstitutional and divisive election to go forward, unchallenged, in Hawaii,” Dr. Akina concluded.
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii reaffirmed its commitment to defending the Constitution and expressing the concerns of Native Hawaiians opposed to the state’s race-based nation-building process.
Ideology mirrored with dogma coupled with revisionism tethered to the political polemics only offered by the far right.
Dear Dr. Conklin: How many students have you counseled about writing with concision and precision? If you can’t engage your audience within the first couple of sentences, you’ve lost them. You seem to prefer volume over content. Yes, I presume to give you advice on your writing and my academic justification for doing so certainly rivals yours.
Yes, self-promotion from the self-published author. What is lacking in academic buy-in and editorial oversight and review is made up in putative diatribe.
(Oh, I more than found that out when I began to write fiction under another name. OMG! If I didn’t have an editor, I’d be floating around about 200 miles off of Moloka’i. I never realized how bad my writing really was after 20 years of academic writing. What I had to do no was convince people that what I was writing was real.)
Cello — please learn to read before you make abusive criticism. I wrote 4 very concise and precise lines. The rest was a press release from the Grassroots Institute, which I clearly labeled and documented its source.
Stop the election and appoint all 40 delegates! lol. Good one!Nai Aupuni! Those groups that wanted to “Stop The Election” …well they stopped it! Just not the way they wanted it stopped. IMUA Nai Aupuni. IMUA Hawaiian Sovereignty! A nation within a Nation….now whats so wrong that folks? American Indians did it,why not us Hawaiians? This way everybody gets a piece of the pie. Coexist! With Peace,Harmony and Tranquility for all. IMUA
Why not let people with at least one drop of Hawaiian blood break apart the lands and people of Hawaii to create a race-based government exclusively for them?
Why not let Americans with at least one drop of African blood break apart the lands and people of the U.S. to create a race-based Nation of New Africa exclusively for them?
Just imagine the horrendous jurisdictional disputes and racial hostility that would happen when 40 million blacks scattered throughout America make their own government and live under different laws from everyone else.
Blacks are only about 12 percent of America’s people. Ethnic Hawaiians are more than 20 percent of Hawaii’s people. So the horrendous results of creating a Nation of New Africa on the mainland would be almost twice as awful for Hawaii if an ethnic Hawaiian government were created here.
Moiee, You buggah, that’s twice in one day I’ve agreed with you. The reason is that we’ve been unsuccessful in teaching and nurturing Hawaiian-American kids to be successful. How can we do it better?
Take those kids out of “Hawaiian Studies” and language immersion courses and put them into math, science, and other subjects where they will learn subject matter that will enable them to succeed in the real world.
And to whose “real world” are we making reference? So, if you were of a specific class of the population and entertained notions of getting a degree, say in the classics, would,you be so condescending? Seems like that route worked well for established neo-conservative Francis Fukuyama?
Why don’t you just say it, it will be much more liberating, you don’t care for native topics as as academic pursuit nor as entity worthy of recognition.
Actually, who needs an election? The elite will just draft and adopt the final Constitution. DONE. —- OR We can get Obama to draft his version of the Constitution and impose it on the Hawaiians.
What the heck “final Constitution” are you talking about? I’m trying to make sense of “just your view” as I’ve tried for quite a while and I just can’t. Just what is your view? How does your view relate to reality. Sorry, just can’t get it.
This should be a time for discussion of the issues that the aha raise. It would be time well spent. And perhaps cohesive enough that a couple of drafts might be ready for the ballot?
This is and always was about money.
Not really. It’s about the will of the People to accomplish change. I’m also Mr. Mililani and I think we can do great things byu focusing on community and change.
Cellodad says: “… I’m also Mr. Mililani and I think we can do great things byu focusing on community and change.” Huh? Wa choo sane? You speaka da Hingalish?
Hmmmn, not exactly, but let’s entertain the notion for a second. Per the dictates of the admission act, the state holds lands, e.g. Ceded Lands, in trust for Native Hawaiians. Like most native communities land is at the primacy of both its culture Idendity. Do these lands represent a profound nominal worth–yes, very much so….
However, it is not the monetary value that is at the central core value for Native Hawaiians, rather it is the ability to make their own decisions, e.g self-determination, to self-govern themselves akin to other native cultures. Sovereignty, in any if its iterations, also has the sober responsibility of creating viable economic opportunity for its people in order to advance the community–so, yes money has a little to do with it.
Actually money has a LOT to do with it. Economic independence is an important step towards political independence. A national currency leads to national sovereignty. Stay tuned.
It was meant as a sardonic commentary. And it’s the other way around: sovereignty leads to its own currency.