The Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision in the Hawaii Superferry case, coming as it did mere hours after oral argument and just days before the ferry was scheduled to sail, certainly was the issue dominating the headlines in the last quarter of 2007, especially after the Legislature was called into special session to pass legislation allowing the Superferry and other large capacity ferries to sail while the state conducted an environmental assessment.
Despite the high drama, the issue in the Sierra Club’s lawsuit was fairly straightforward: did the Superferry qualify for a categorical exemption from having to undertake an EA. The Supreme Court held as a matter of law that it did not, and that secondary impacts should have been considered.
Everything on inversecondemnation.com about the case, including the briefs of the parties, oral argument recordings, the court’s decision, and commentary, is posted here.