A Contested Contested Case
The State reaffirms and shall protect all rights, customarily and traditionally exercised for subsistence, cultural and religious purposes and possessed by ahupua`a tenants who are descendants of native Hawaiians who inhabited the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778, subject to the right of the State to regulate such rights.
Article XII, Section 7 of the Hawai`i Constitution leaves no doubt as to the rights of native Hawaiians. But exercising those rights does not always come easily.
A recent opinion of the Intermediate Court of Appeals spells out just how far the Board of Land and Natural Resources has fallen short of the mark in carrying out its constitutional obligations to native Hawaiians. Not only did it incorrectly place upon them the burden of proof in a challenge to a permit award, the ICA found, it then failed to respect their property interests when it denied them a second contested case.
While the events in question occurred more than four years ago, the problems noted in the ICA opinion must not be allowed to stand.This is no way to run the state’s business.
