High court refuses to sanction convention leaders

The Native Hawaiian self-governance convention planned for next month cleared a legal hurdle Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt to hold convention organizers in contempt of court.

However, the underlying lawsuit filed by Grassroot Institute President Keli‘i Akina and five other plaintiffs in August remains pending. They sued to block the election of delegates to the convention, saying it violates their constitutional rights because only Native Hawaiians could register and vote.

Na‘i Aupuni, the nonprofit staging the convention, considers it a private matter among Native Hawaiians that does not involve the state.

The latest skirmish in the case came after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction Dec. 2 blocking the counting of votes and certification of winners in that election while the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considers the merits of the lawsuit.

In response, Na‘i Aupuni decided to cancel the election and instead offered all delegate candidates a chance to attend the aha, or gathering, and discuss a path to Hawaiian self-governance. Organizers said that waiting for the court case to play out would take too long.

The plaintiffs objected to Na‘i Aupuni’s move, calling it an effort to dodge the constitutional court challenge and disobey the court’s order. They asked the Supreme Court to sanction Na‘i Aupuni, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission by holding them in civil contempt of court.

On Tuesday the high court, without comment, declined to do so.

“We’re happy. We expected it to go in our favor,” said Clyde Namuo, executive director of the Roll Commission, which compiled the list of eligible Hawaiian voters for the election. “We still feel we are going to prevail in the 9th Circuit.”

Na‘i Aupuni attorney William Meheula said last month that because the election was canceled and the votes will never be counted, the lawsuit seeking to stop the election should be moot, and his clients intend to seek its dismissal.

The 9th Circuit Court is still reviewing the original ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright that would have allowed voting to proceed. The plaintiffs appealed that decision to the 9th Circuit and also filed an emergency motion to block the votes from being counted.

Akina is looking forward to having the case heard.

“The Supreme Court has only denied a temporary remedy related to our case,” Akina said in a statement Tuesday. “We remain confident that when the full case is argued before the 9th Circuit Court or Supreme Court, it will prevail on its merits.”

At last count, 154 delegate candidates were planning to attend the four-week convention next month. They will consider various options for Native Hawaiians to achieve self-governance, in hopes of reaching a consensus. Peter Adler and Linda Colburn of The Mediation Center of the Pacific have been retained as facilitators.