Legal challenge can't close OHA, DHHL, judge says
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
A federal judge yesterday substantially pared down a court challenge to the legality of using state taxpayers' money to support two state agencies that offer programs that require participants to be of Hawaiian ancestry.
U.S. District Judge Susan Mollway said that while 15 Hawai'i residents who are suing the state Department of Hawaiian Homelands and the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs may do so because they are state taxpayers, that status does not give them the right to challenge spending by the two agencies that involves rental income or other money not derived from state tax revenue.
MOLLWAY
"Any success plaintiffs may have in this lawsuit, therefore, will fall short of closing down entirely either the Department of Hawaiian Homelands or the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, as neither relies entirely on state tax revenue," Mollway said in a 30-page decision released yesterday afternoon.
The group challenging the so-called Hawaiian entitlement programs filed a lawsuit in March 2002, claiming government social-assistance programs that provide money based on race are unconstitutional.
In her ruling yesterday, Mollway said state taxpayer standing is not enough for members of the group to challenge the federal Admission Act, through which Hawai'i became a state. As part of that act, Hawai'i agreed to take over administration of the Hawaiian Home Lands programs from the federal government.
Such a challenge could be mounted, however, by "someone who applied for a Hawaiian Home Lands lease and was turned down solely because he or she was not Native Hawaiian," Mollway said. "No plaintiff in this case has shown any such standing."
Another major hearing in the case is set for Jan. 12, when Mollway is to consider an argument that the case should be dismissed because Congress gave Hawaiians political recognition with the establishment of the Hawaiian Homes Commission in 1920, resulting in a special status that defeats the allegation of racial discrimination.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
