Like a lot of other jurisdictions, Hawaii's emergency response statutes contain an "automatic termination" limitation on the governor's or a mayor's declaration of emergency:
A state of emergency and a local state of emergency shall terminate automatically sixty days after the issuance of a proclamation of a state of emergency or local state of emergency, respectively, or by a separate proclamation of the governor or mayor, whichever occurs first.
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 127A-14(d).
Hawaii's Governor David Ige issued a declaration of emergency way back in March, and as the coronavirus thing dragged on, later issued multiple "supplemental" declarations, some of which purported to adopt countermeasures or suspend laws past the original sixty-day window. The two-week quarantine for inbound travelers is one of those restrictions.
Here's the Complaint filed yesterday in a Hawaii state court (Third Circuit, Kona), which challenges the Governor's authority under section 127A-14. Check it out. The Complaint alleges that inbound returning residents were subject to the Governor's fourteen-day self-quarantine, implemented pursuant to the allegedly expired emergency declaration (even though one of them had been exempted due to the "essential" status of his work). After someone dropped dime on them, they were cited by Big Island police and are being prosecuted.
Several items, in the event this case or these issues float your boat:
July 22, 2020: we are moderating a superstar panel of lawprofs and practitioners (including the counsel for the plaintiffs in the Hawaii case, Harmeet Dhillon), for an ABA sponsored program, "Emergency and Police Power: Property Claims in Times of Crisis." Also speaking are Professors Craig Konnoth (Colorado) and John Nolon (Pace), and Professor Sarah Adams-Schoen (Oregon).For more on the powers of Hawaii's governor during emergencies -- including the "automatic termination" provision -- see our forthcoming article in the U. Hawaii Law Review, "Hoist the Yellow Flag and Spam® Up: The Separation of Powers Limitation on Hawaii’s Emergency Authority," 43 U. Haw. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2020).
We were a guest on the Eminent Domain Podcast on the takings aspects of these shut down orders (not an issue in the Hawaii case, as the plaintiffs have not raised a takings claim).
If you want a deeper dive into the takings issues, download our draft article, "Evaluating Emergency Takings: Flattening The Economic Curve."
Complaint, Partal v. Ige, No. 3CCV-20-0000277 (July 17, 2020) by RHT on Scribd
