Another "Ceded Lands" Case Round-Up

U.S. Supreme Court cases -- especially when they arise in your back yard -- always garner a lot of attention, and the ceded lands case being argued on Wednesday, February 25 is no exception.  Here's a run down of the latest:

• The Sunday Star-Bulletin ran a front-page above-the-fold story, "Battle over ceded lands." ("But native Hawaiian groups fear that the U.S. Supreme Court might go beyond whether the state can sell the lands and declare that the state has unfettered rights to the ceded lands that would undermine native Hawaiian claims to the property. Native Hawaiian groups also believe that if OHA prevails and the ban is left intact, they would be in a better bargaining position for a settlement because the state would be hamstrung with the restriction on sales and transfers.Clyde Namuo, OHA executive director, said such an outcome would give "leverage for the native Hawaiian community" and also preserve the land as a source for the settlement.")

• The Advertiser followed suit on Monday morning: "Top court takes on ceded lands." ("Supporters of [Hawaiians-only] programs and funding say they are constitutional, arguing that there is a special political relationship between the U.S. and Native Hawaiians, but are nonetheless concerned about the high court debating the difference between that political relationship and a race-based policy.")

• KITV posts video of an OHA infomercial about the ceded lands case, "Ceded Lands: A Threatened Legacy." Charley Foster at Planet Kauai added his pithy commentary about the video here.

• Jerry Burris adds his thoughts about the implications of the case: "Ceded lands case is about the future." ("So where's the argument here? It has to do with those negotiations over the authority and extent of a Hawaiian nation that might come if and when a nation is created. When that day comes, if it ever does, all of the 1.2 million or more acres of ceded lands will be on the table.")

• Derrick DePledge blogs about the latest effort to convince the Obama Administration to abandon its support for the State of Hawaii's argument: "One last plea." He reprints a leter from a state representative to President Obama asking him to intervene and withdraw the federal government's amicus brief.  As we noted in this post, that is unlikely to occur.

We will follow Wednesday's arguments, and post the transcript as soon as it becomes available. Disclosure: we filed an amicus brief in the case, supporting the State's arguments.

For more about the ceded lands case, including the Hawaii Supreme Court decision under review, all of the merits and amicus briefs, and links to media reports and commentary, visit our ceded lands page.