Justices reject appeal on homestead delays

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

The Hawai'i Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an appeal brought by three people who sued the state in October 1999 for alleged breaches in the Hawaiian Home Lands program.

Leona Kalima, Diane Boner and Joseph Ching filed the class-action suit seeking to represent more than 2,700 Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian beneficiaries of the trust administered by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

The trust beneficiaries were attempting to obtain compensation for their claims alleging breaches of trust, including years-long delays in processing their applications and the awarding of homestead sites.

The state had set up a process in 1991 for handling the claims for breaches from 1959 to 1988. The process allowed for the filing of lawsuits by Dec. 31, 1999, but only after a panel reviewed the claims and the Legislature acted on the panel's recommendations.

In the case before the Supreme Court, Ching, Boner and Kalima were appealing an earlier decision by Circuit Judge Victoria Marks, who had denied their motion for judgment on the pleadings.

The Supreme Court justices said they lacked jurisdiction in the matter.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.