by Ken Conklin
On August 7, 2007 a 3-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Judge Susan Oki Mollway of the U.S. District Court in Honolulu to reinstate a lawsuit she previously dismissed. The 5 plaintiffs are native Hawaiians with at least 50% native blood quantum who complain that the State of Hawaii Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is improperly spending enormous amounts of money on programs for low-blood-quantum ethnic Hawaiians.
Those OHA programs include lobbying for the Akaka bill, advertising for the Kau Inoa racial registry expected to be used for a membership roll for the Akaka tribe, small-business loans, etc. If an Akaka tribe is created, the great majority of its members would be low-quantum Hawaiians. They could then seize control of land and money which rightfully belong to Hawaiians with greater than 50% native blood quantum according to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, and section 5(f) of the Hawaii Statehood Admissions Act of 1959, and the statutes enacted after the Constitutional Convention of 1978 to provide a flow of ceded lands revenue to OHA.
A webpage explains the reasons why plaintiffs claim OHA is violating its responsibilities. Full text of the 9th Circuit Court decision is provided, along with news reports and commentaries, and comparison among three conflicting viewpoints on why the Akaka bill is illegal and immoral (including the views of Chief Maui Loa speaking on behalf of the 50%ers). See
http://tinyurl.com/yo2ovk