Supreme Court rules in Native Hawaiian lands case
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Filed Under:
Law
The state of Hawaii retains authority to sell, transfer or exchange Native Hawaiian lands, the
U.S. Supreme Court said in a unanimous decision today.
In 1993, Congress apologized for the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. The
Hawaii Supreme Court said the resolution protected Native Hawaiian lands during the "ongoing reconciliation process."
Justice Samuel. A. Alito disagreed. Writing the majority opinion, he said the state court's decision was "incorrectly" based on federal law.
"Here, the State Supreme Court incorrectly held that Congress, by adopting the Apology Resolution, took away from the citizens of Hawaii the authority to resolve an issue that is of great importance to the people of the State," Alito wrote.
The case is
Hawaii
v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Supreme Court Decision:
Syllabus |
Opinion [Alito]
Supreme Court Documents:
Oral
Argument Transcript |
Docket Sheet
No. 07-1372 |
Petition
for certiorari
Related Stories:
Turtle Talk: Supreme Court hears Hawaiian case
(2/26)
Supreme Court to hear
Native Hawaiian land case (2/24)
SCOTUSBlog: Native Hawaiian Supreme Court case
(2/23)
Opinion: Native Hawaiian Supreme
Court case (1/6)
Supreme Court sets
hearings in Indian law cases (12/09)
Supreme Court to hear Native Hawaiian case
(10/1)
Supreme Court considers Indian
law cases (9/30)
SCOTUSBlog: Supreme
Court petitions to watch (09/19)
Copyright © Indianz.Com
Subscribe