From Rice vs. Cayetano

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Rice vs. Cayetano issued on Feb. 23 found the Hawaiian-only voting restriction at the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs violated the 15th Amendment ban on race-based voting restrictions.

"When the culture and way of life of a people are all but engulfed by a history beyond their control, their sense of loss may extend down through generations; and their dismay may be shared by many members of the larger community. As the State of Hawai‘i attempts to address these realities, it must, as always, seek the political consensus that begins with a sense of shared purpose. One of the necessary beginning points is this principle: The Constitution of the United States, too, has become the heritage of all the citizens of Hawai‘i. In this case the Fifteenth Amendment invalidates the electoral qualification based on ancestry."

Excerpt from the Feb. 23 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Rice vs. Cayetano

From Arakaki vs. State of Hawai‘i

U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor granted a motion filed by 13 non-Hawaiian residents to bar chief election officer Dwayne Yoshina from stopping non-Hawaiians from running for the board of trustees at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

"The state of Hawai‘i’s chosen means to effectuate its goal of bettering the conditions and restoring and maintaining the culture of Hawaiians, while laudable, is in discord with the 14th and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution as well as the Voting Rights Act. As Justice Scalia stated in his concurrence with Adarand, to pursue the concept of racial entitlement — even for the most admirable and benign of purposes — is to reinforce and preserve for future mischief the way of thinking that produced race slavery, race privilege and race hatred."

Excerpt from U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor's Sept. 19 decision in Arakaki vs. State of Hawai'i.

From Barrett vs. State of Hawai‘i

After helping Big Island cattle rancher Harold “Freddy“ Rice win his case against OHA’s Hawaiian-only elections, attorney John Goemans filed a federal lawsuit Oct. 3 on behalf of Honolulu resident Patrick Barrett that challenges the constitutionality of Article 12 of the Hawai‘i Constitution. Established in 1978, Article 12 created OHA, adopted the federal Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and provided the foundation for native gathering rights on private property.

"Such use of race to provide governmental benefits, services, entitlements and other emoluments to a limited number of Hawaiian citizens based solely upon their race violates the equal protection clause, unless the state proves a compelling governmental interest in such racial preferences and, as well, a narrowly tailored program for implementing such defined interest."

Except from Oct. 3 lawsuit filed in federal court on behalf of Honolulu resident Patrick Barrett that challenges the constitutionality of Article 12 of the Hawai'i Constitution.