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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
63 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE RESOLUTION
REQUESTING WITHDRAWAL of THE STATE'S appeal pending before the United STates supreme court in Hawaii v. office of hawaiian affairs, No. 07-1372.
WHEREAS, ceded lands are the former crown and government lands of the Kingdom of Hawaii that were transferred to the United States as part of Hawaii's annexation in 1898 and granted to the State of Hawaii upon statehood in 1959; and
WHEREAS, the Admission Act mandates that the State hold the ceded lands and proceeds and income from ceded lands in a public trust for several purposes, including the betterment of conditions of native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, the 1993 Congressional Apology Resolution recognized that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii was illegal, the taking of the Kingdom's crown, government, and public lands was without consent or compensation, and the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims over their national lands to the United States; and
WHEREAS, in 1994, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and several native Hawaiian individuals sued the State and the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii to enjoin them from alienating ceded lands; and
WHEREAS, the Circuit Court decided in favor of the State and concluded that the plaintiffs' claims were barred by the doctrines of sovereign immunity, waiver, estoppel, and justiciability and that the State had the express authority to alienate ceded lands from the public lands trust; and
WHEREAS, in January 2008, the Hawaii Supreme Court vacated the Circuit Court's decision and instructed the Circuit Court to issue an order granting the injunction prohibiting the State from selling or transferring any ceded lands from the public lands trust until the native Hawaiians' unrelinquished claims to the ceded lands are resolved; and
WHEREAS, the State asked the United States Supreme Court to review the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari, and oral arguments are scheduled for February 25, 2009; and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the people of this State, including native Hawaiians, for the State to withdraw its appeal to the United States Supreme Court; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that the Governor of the State of Hawaii is requested to withdraw the State's request, now pending before the United States Supreme Court in Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, No. 07-1372, to overturn the decision of the Hawaii Supreme Court enjoining the sale, transfer, or exchange of ceded lands; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii, and the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Ceded Lands