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Colette Machado finds it difficult to control her emotions when naysayers predict the Office of Hawaiian Affairs may not be around by the end of this year. Hawaiian groups
vow vigorous battle
against legal challengeBy Pat Omandam
Star-BulletinThe predictions stem from the upcoming Patrick Barrett vs. State of Hawaii federal court case that threatens the existence of government programs for Hawaiians.
Machado said she believes such talk wouldn't persist if the people of Hawaii understood and embraced the impact that Hawaiians have had on these islands.
And no matter what happens, Hawaiian leaders said they will fight the Barrett lawsuit all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if needed.
"We're not going down without any kicking and screaming because we're good at that," Machado said yesterday.
"Nonetheless, there is a social obligation to the native Hawaiians that is part of this land and our iwi (bones of ancestors), and our kupuna (elders). ... That's our argument, and that's what we've got to touch people's hearts with," she said.
Attorneys and officials for OHA, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition and the state Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations gathered at OHA headquarters yesterday in a symbolic show of alliance as intervenors in the Barrett case.
In October, Moiliili resident Patrick Barrett filed a lawsuit seeking declaratory judgment and an injunction that bars the state from operating the Hawaiian Homes program and OHA because he claims both are unconstitutional.
The argument uses the Feb. 23, 2000, U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Rice vs. Cayetano case, in which the justices ruled against racial restrictions in the state-funded OHA elections.
Barrett's request for a preliminary injunction will be heard at 9:45 a.m. March 12 before U.S. District Chief Judge David Alan Ezra.
"I can tell you ... we feel very passionate about this problem," said trustee Oswald Stender. "It is one of the most serious things that OHA and the Hawaiian people have to face."
Yesterday, OHA board attorney Sherry Broder said there will be different arguments used than the ones in the Rice case. Several Hawaiian groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the state during the Rice case.
"The arguments will not only be the trust responsibility of the state of Hawaii, but also be based on the claims of the Hawaiian people that arise out of their claims to the land," Broder said.
Attorney Robert Klein, a retired Hawaii Supreme Court associate justice who represents the statewide homestead association in the case, said what Barrett is trying to do is take the Rice decision and translate it into "additional victories."
Klein said the Supreme Court ruling did not decide the constitutionality of Hawaiian programs when it ruled on Rice. Rather, those issues remain open until they are decided in court, he said.
"The issues are far-reaching, and they are different depending on what the target of the lawsuit is," Klein said. "It's a job for all of us to put our best foot forward legally, and hope all the programs survive as is. And that's our fervent goal."
Office of Hawaiian Affairs