2014

Our thanks to Jacob Cremer for the heads-up on the Florida Court of Appeals’ decision in Ocean Palm Golf Club Partnership v. City of Flagler Beach, No. 5D12-4274 (May 30, 2014). Jacob did not post any analysis (undertstandable because his law firm is involved in the case) so we’ll add our two cents.  …

Update: more on the issue from the New York Times: “Honolulu Shores Up Tourism With Crackdown on Homeless.”

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Check out the headline story from today’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser, “Mayor’s sidealk strategy targets Waikiki homeless,” about two bills proposed by Honolulu’s mayor to address some difficult urban issues. 

The first…

Hawaii, like many other jurisdictions, has an open records law. Here, we call it “UIPA” (“yoo-pah” or “wee-pah”) becuase the statute is the Uniform Information Practices Act, and not “FOIA” or “FOIL.” But in substance, it’s mostly the same as our sibling jurisdictions: government records are strongly presumed to be public documents, available to…

Here are the merits briefs in an important case set for argument later this month in the Hawaii Supreme Court.

The litigation is a series of two lawsuits that originated in state court in the Third Circuit (Big Island), one an original jurisdiction civil rights lawsuit, the other an administrative appeal. The essence of the…

The final words in most appellate oral arguments by the jurists are usually something along the lines of “we’ll let you know.” In Hawaii state courts, the Chief Justice signals you’re done with “we’ll take the case under advisement,” while in many federal courts, the presiding judge informs you “the case is submitted.” Or words…

Here is the oral argument recording in Bridge Aina Lea, LLC v. Chock, Nos. 12-15971, 12-16076, case argued yesterday in the Ninth Circuit at its session in Honolulu. As we previewed, the issues involved Pullman abstention and immunity. As for Williamson County ripeness, an issue the court asked the parties to brief separately…

For those of you who follow the issue, here’s the latest in the “genetically modified organisms” issue, yet another one where Hawaii is apparently the epicenter. As we posted earlier, the County of Kauai adopted an ordinance regulating GMO’s which was immediately challenged in Federal District Court in Honolulu, while the County of Hawaii…

For you rails-to-trails fans, here’s the latest from the Federal Circuit. In Biery v . United States, No. 13-5082 (June 2, 2014), the court held that interests which certain Kansas property owners conveyed to railroads back in the day were grants in fee simple, and some were grants of an easement.  

The issue…