One portion of the federal Uniform Relocation Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4651, requires Federal agencies participating in projects requiring the acquisition of private property to be guided by certain policies that “assure consistent treatment for owners . . . and . . . .promote public confidence in Federal land acquisition practices,” such as (and we’re paraphrasing
Does Hawaii Need An “Environmental Court?” (Part II)
Looks like they’re at it again, a solution in search of a problem: a bill has been proposed in the Hawaii Legislature to create an “Environmental Court,” whose mission would be to handle “environmental disputes” arising under a wide range of state statutes:
…administrative proceedings and proceedings for declaratory judgment on the validity of agency
How Do You Solve A Problem Like … Appellate Mootness? More Process!
The Hawaii Supreme Court has been on a roll lately, giving us a series of decisions clarifying appellate procedure. So in the past couple of months, we’ve got cases about appealability, dismissing appeals for a brief not conforming to the rules, and what is a final appealable order. Good stuff for those
HAWSCT’s Latest On The Private Attorney General Doctrine
This is the second half of a post from the week before last, about the Hawaii Supreme Court’s opinion in Goo v. Arakawa, No. SCWC-30142 (Feb. 19, 2014).
In that case, the court was presented with two issues. First, what should an appellate court do with a trial court’s judgment when a case
HAWSCT Nominee Wilson’s Written Opinions
On Tuesday, February 18, 2014, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie named Judge Michael D. Wilson as his nomination for associate justice to the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii to fill the upcoming vacancy when Associate Justice Simeon Acoba retires in March, having reached the mandatory retirement age. See Rebecca Copeland’s post on Record on
9th Cir: Honolulu Rail Project On Track
Update 2/19/14: the Honolulu Star-Advertiser has this report (“The appellate court decision was an ‘overwhelming victory for the city from an ideologically diverse panel, said Robert Thomas, a Honolulu-and San Francisco-based attorney who attended the hearing in August. The panel comprised Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Mary Schroeder and Andrew Hurwitz. ‘All three of them agreed. They
9th Cir OK’s Environmental Review Of Honolulu Rail Project
Update: a deeper review of the opinion here.
The Ninth Circuit has affirmed the District Court’s decision upholding for the most part the environmental review of the Honolulu rail project. Here’s the summary from the court:
The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims under the National Environmental Policy Act and Section 4(f) of
Frack Now: NY Property Owners Sue To Halt Delays
Here’s the Verified Petition and Complaint, filed last week, in which a coalition of New York landowners sued the governor, claiming that the state is dragging its heels in its environmental review of fracking. We’re interested because a bad on fracking may lead to takings problems, although this lawsuit does not raise such
HAWSCT: Damage To Unique Property Subject To Unique Rules
There’s not much doubt that the now-notorious large-scale unpermitted upland grading and grubbing by a Kauai property owner on its private land caused the runoff that catastrophically damaged the adjacent beach and the reef offshore. The damage was pretty bad, and resulted in the “largest storm water settlement [with the federal EPA] in the United
HAWSCT: Court Of Appeals Cannot Dismiss Appeal Sua Sponte For Failure To Conform To The Rules
You file a crap brief with an appellate court. Shame on you.
The court of appeals, understandably displeased with your lack of skills — even under the low standards applicable to pro se appellants — dismisses your appeal sua sponte.
Shame on them, says the Hawaii Supreme Court in In re Marn Family Litigation