United States Supreme Court agrees to hear Hawai`i case

As mentioned in class, thousands of cases are appealed to the United Satates Supreme Court every year, and less than 100 are heard (with about 50-60 decided without oral argument). Four of the nine justices must agree to have the case taken up by the Court. Simply put, the US Supreme Court only takes significant cases, which is why whenever they agree to take up a Hawai`i case, we should sit up and take notice. The case they're taking up this session is Hawaii v. OHA.

Here's a summary of the issue from the certiorari petition by the attorney general's office:

"In 1993, Congress marked the 100th anniversary of
the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by enacting a
joint resolution--the Apology Resolution--that expresses
the federal government’s regret for its role in
that incident. In this case, the Supreme Court of Hawaii
held that this symbolic Resolution tacitly, but materially,
impairs the State’s sovereign authority over its
own lands. Specifically, the court held that the Resolution
should be read to prohibit the State from selling,
exchanging, or transferring approximately 1.2 million
acres of State land almost all of the land owned by the
State and about 29 percent of the total land area of the
State--until it has struck a political settlement with
native Hawaiians who assert aboriginal rights to that
land."

To be fully informed on the issue, here are links from the Hawai`i Supreme Court's blog to news releases by the parties:

http://hisupremecourt.blogspot.com/

Here are links to the court documents in the case:

http://planetkauai.blogspot.com/2008/09/this-is-it-will-supremes-hear-hawaii-v.html