Patrick Hanifin, 48, fought entitlements
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Honolulu attorney Patrick W. Hanifin, one of the key legal advisers behind federal lawsuits challenging Hawaiian entitlements, died Saturday after complications during heart surgery. He was 48.
Advertiser library photo • July 12, 2001
Hanifin was born May 7, 1955 in Honolulu, at the same hospital where he died, The Queen's Medical Center, said his younger sister, Teresa Hanifin Wong.
Patrick Hanifin worked for plaintiffs who challenged the validity of Native Hawaiian programs.
He was a graduate of Saint Louis High School (Class of 1973), the University of Notre Dame (1977, magna cum laude), Harvard Law School (cum laude, 1980) and the John F. Kennedy School of Government (1986).
He worked at two local law firms before becoming a partner of Im Hanifin Parsons in 2000, his sister said.
Hanifin represented 13 Hawai'i residents who in 2000 successfully sued to stop the state from banning non-Hawaiians from running for seats on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
He then worked for plaintiffs who challenged the validity of Native Hawaiian programs.
In March 2002, those plaintiffs filed suit against OHA and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands claiming they were unconstitutional race-based programs that discriminate against non-Hawaiians.
U.S. District Judge Susan Mollway removed the United States as a defendant in the lawsuit in September, finding that the plaintiffs had legal standing as state taxpayers and could only challenge state money for the programs.
At the center of the conflict, though, is who ultimately will control 1.4 million acres of former crown and government land returned to Hawai'i from the federal government when it became a state in 1959.
H. William Burgess worked with Hanifin on the case, which was to have been heard in federal court yesterday. Mollway postponed the case until Sept. 8 after hearing Friday that Hanifin had driven himself to the hospital with chest pains, Burgess said.
"He is one of the most brilliant lawyers I have ever met, but I don't think it will have any affect on the suit," Burgess said. "We will forge on. The suit, on the merits, is exactly the same."
Kenneth Conklin was one of the 13 who sued in 2000. He called Hanifin "a fallen warrior" who believed in equality for all. His death leaves "a big hole" in the movement against entitlements, Conklin said.
"The movement is larger than any one person but he knew all the issues," Conklin said. "He had a grasp of the big picture and the ability to argue the small details with great eloquence and persuasiveness."
Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.
