Thanks to Professor Patty Salkin for posting a summary of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals decision in Pono v. Molokai Ranch, Ltd., 119 Haw. 163, 194 P.3d 1126 (2008), in which “the court concluded, a private citizen does not have standing to enforce the land-use law, because such authority is not explicitly or
SCOTUS Ceded Lands Case: Another Amicus Brief
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and the Southeastern Legal Foundation filed an amicus brief in the Hawaii ceded lands case, available here. The brief argues:
Hawaii is justly admired as an integrated, racially blended society. It has been called a model for the rest of the country, perhaps for the world. But some people
More Amicus Briefs in SCOTUS Ceded Lands Case
The brief of the Commissioner of Public Lands for the State of New Mexico is posted here. The brief of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence is posted here.
The New Mexico brief explains:
Because the express trust created under the Hawaii Admission Act was based on principles established in the New Mexico and
Ceded Lands Case: Pacific Legal Foundation, Cato Institute, Center for Equal Opportunity Amicus Brief
Today, we filed an amicus brief in the ceded lands case on behalf of Pacific Legal Foundation, the Cato Institute, and the Center for Equal Opportunity, available here.
The core issue of this case is whether a state court, interpreting federal law, may enjoin the State of Hawaii from exercising its sovereign authority to
Ceded Lands Case: Mountain States Legal Foundation Amicus Brief
The Mountain States Legal Foundation, “a nonprofit, public-interest law firm . . . dedicated to bringing before the courts those issues vital to the defense and preservation of individual liberties, the right to own and use property, the free enterprise system, and limited and ethical government” today filed an amicus brief in the Hawaii ceded
The Fifth Amendment is Not Enough: Bulldozing Free Speech
Following up on our earlier post, “‘No, I’m Spartacus!’” about the latest foul turn in the Bulldozed saga, the Institute for Justice (the folks who represented Susette Kelo) today announced that they are representing Carla T. Main, Bulldozed‘s author, in the defamation suit filed against her and and lawprof Richard Epstein (who
Procedural Chutzpah: Williamson County in Action
Let me make sure I am understanding this properly: a property owner does the right thing under the rules of Williamson County Regional Planning Comm’n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U.S. 172 (1985), and brings her federal regulatory takings/inverse condemnation claim in state court because its not yet ripe in federal court
HAWSCT Cert Briefs in Jurisdiction Case
Following up on a post from earlier today, here are the briefs in the Pono v. Molokai Ranch, Ltd. cert petition, which seeks HAWSCT cert review of the Intermediate Court of Appeals’ decision, reported at 119 Haw. 163, 194 P.3d 1126 (2008). The issue is whether Hawaii circuit (trial) courts have original jurisdiction to
NY Times on Land and Power on Molokai
Worth reading: “In an Age-Old Quest for Balance, an Uncertain Shift” from the New York Times, a story about the land use “Battle of Molokai Ranch” (as the story puts it). If you want to begin to understand the land use game in Hawaii, take a couple of minutes and read this article.
Hawaii Agriculture at Risk: Water Law and Land Use
In theory, Hawaii reveres agriculture: pre-western contact Hawaii was primarily an agrarian society, many of us trace our family’s history to the post-contact “plantation days,” and today, even environmental groups proclaim they support farmers and ranchers and want to “keep the country country.” Who among us of a certain age didn’t work in