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Saturday, September 1, 2012
New Complaint Challenging Kauai's Limit On Visitor Units
By Robert Thomas @ 2:08 AM :: 8895 Views :: Honolulu County, Democratic Party

 The complaint asserts that the County has no legitimate interest in restricting tourists or part time residents, and that the charter amendment is a zoning regulation that cannot be adopted by the voters ....

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Monday, August 27, 2012
Enviros win 90% in Hawaii Supreme Court
By Robert Thomas @ 5:43 PM :: 23402 Views :: Environment, Development, Hawaii Statistics, Judiciary, Land Use

...the Hawaii Supreme Court "has managed to find in favor of Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, Earthjustice ... 90% of the time, 70% of those decisions overturning the [Hawaii] Intermediate Court of Appeals....

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Saturday, August 25, 2012
Koa Ridge: Holdover Land Use Commissioner Not Disqualified
By Robert Thomas @ 1:50 AM :: 7302 Views :: Energy, Environment

the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals held that the Hawaii Senate's failure to confirm a sitting Land Use Commissioner for a second term did not disqualify him ....

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Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Justice Kennedy: US Constitution is Part of Hawaii's Heritage
By Robert Thomas @ 9:34 PM :: 10064 Views :: Kauai County, DHHL, Energy, Environment

One of the necessary beginning points is this principle: The Constitution of the United States, too, has become the heritage of all the citizens of Hawaii.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Na Wai Eha: Supreme Court Rules Against Water Commission
By Robert Thomas @ 9:22 PM :: 11857 Views :: Kauai County, DHHL, Energy, Environment

When a Hawaii Supreme Court opinion starts off waxing poetic about "Na Wai Eha" you don't need to read the remaining 88 pages to know what the ineviatable result will be....

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Tuesday, July 10, 2012
State Appeals Attorneys' Fees Award In JSC List Case
By Robert Thomas @ 6:49 PM :: 5804 Views :: Energy, Environment

Abandoning the practice of his two predecessors, the Governor refused to release the list of names of nominees transmitted to him by the Judicial Selection Commission....

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Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Is The Obamacare Decision The New Kelo?
By Robert Thomas @ 6:14 PM :: 5565 Views :: National News, Ethics

Opponents have vowed to repeal it, citing the nearly universal popular revulsion with the Court's majority decision in Kelo v. City of New London as an example where one side lost the battle, but might have secured the upper hand in the long run....

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Friday, June 29, 2012
If Individual Mandate is a Tax, What is Eminent Domain?
By Robert Thomas @ 2:05 PM :: 5329 Views :: National News, Ethics

We're starting to appreciate the Chief's "functional" approach. What say we apply that same test to a legislature's statement regarding the "public use" for which it is condemning property?

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012
SCOTUS Delays Consideration Of Challenge To Hawaiian Homes Property Tax Exemption
By Robert Thomas @ 10:35 PM :: 4592 Views :: Energy, Environment

...the Court's docket entry was updated to reflect consideration of the petition at the Thursday, June 28, 2012 conference....

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Saturday, June 23, 2012
Takings: ICA Overturns Circuit Court in Leone v County of Maui
By Robert Thomas @ 1:51 PM :: 9677 Views :: Kauai County, DHHL, Energy, Environment

The trial court had determined the plaintiffs' regulatory takings claims were not ripe because they should have tried to change offending land use regulations which allegedly deprive their property of all economically beneficial uses.

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Saturday, June 23, 2012
Honolulu Premiere: "Urbanized" - Designing Cities, Working Cities
By Robert Thomas @ 1:40 PM :: 9107 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment

Urbanized (Gary Hustwit 2012), Saturday, June 23, 7:00 p.m., at R&D, 691 Auahi Street, Honolulu....

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Friday, June 15, 2012
State Appeals Court: Individuals Cannot Sue to Determine Vacation Rental in Violation
By Robert Thomas @ 6:41 PM :: 6281 Views :: Energy, Environment

a person complaining about a vacation rental cannot circumvent the City's enforcement procedures and the administrative appeal process by instituting an original jurisdiction lawsuit....

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Thursday, June 7, 2012
Supreme Court Hearing: The Next Big Hawaii Water Case
By Robert Thomas @ 4:15 PM :: 10408 Views :: Kauai County, DHHL, Energy, Environment

In re `Iao Ground Water Management Area High-Level Source Water Use Permit Applications and Petition to Amend Interim Instream Flow Standards of Waihe`e River and Waiehu, `Iao, and Waikapu Streams Contested Case Hearing, No. SCAP-30603 ....

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Thursday, June 7, 2012
DHHL Tax Case: Final Brief in Corboy v Louie
By Robert Thomas @ 4:10 PM :: 6659 Views :: Energy, Environment

case asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Hawaii Supreme Court's dismissal of a challenge to the property tax exemptions conferred on lessees of Hawaiian Homesteads....

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Thursday, June 7, 2012
9th Circuit: Hawaii's Regulation Of Commercial Beach Weddings Does Not Violate First Amendment
By Robert Thomas @ 4:08 PM :: 5784 Views :: Energy, Environment

The court mostly upheld the regulations, but struck down the power of government officials to revoke a permit and modify it....

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Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Obama Admin Asks Supreme Court to Reject DHHL Property Tax Challenge
By Robert Thomas @ 3:59 PM :: 6879 Views :: Energy, Environment

Perhaps the most interesting parts of the SG's brief are its recitation of Hawaii history (pages 1 - 3), and its noting of "recent and ongoing legal developments" (the State's recent legislation instituting a "process for the indigenous native people of Hawaii to reorganize as a sovereign government").

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Friday, May 25, 2012
Kaleikini v Yoshioka: Rail Project in 'Grave' Danger
By Robert Thomas @ 1:23 AM :: 13042 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment

The Hawaii Supreme Court just concluded oral arguments in Kaleikini v. Yoshioka and it does not look good for the City and the State....

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Oral Argument Preview: Can The Honolulu Rail EIS Be Segmented?
By Robert Thomas @ 3:01 PM :: 8674 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment

That's the question the Hawaii Supreme Court will consider this Thursday, May 24, 2012, when it hears oral arguments in Kaleikini v. Yoshioka ....

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Hawaii Reapportionment Case: Motion For Preliminary Injunction Denied
By Robert Thomas @ 2:47 PM :: 6365 Views :: Energy, Environment

...just issued by the three-judge district court denying the motion for preliminary injunction. More to come....

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Friday, May 18, 2012
Supreme Court Continues to Grapple with Constitutionally Protected Native Hawaiian Practices
By Robert Thomas @ 12:13 AM :: 6325 Views :: Energy, Environment

The only limit on the privilege in the text of the constitution is "the right of the State to regulate such rights."

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Friday, May 11, 2012
Full Text: Final Briefs Filed in Reapportionment Case
By Robert Thomas @ 1:02 PM :: 8303 Views :: Energy, Environment

The lawsuit argues that the Equal Protection Clause guarantees representational equality as well as voting equality....

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Full Text: Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction Against Reapportionment Plan
By Robert Thomas @ 5:43 PM :: 7793 Views :: Energy, Environment

Hawaii’s 2012 Plan is not just “substantially” different from population, it is grossly deviant.

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Friday, April 20, 2012
Bridge Aina Lea: Court Rules LUC Violated Developer's Civil Rights
By Robert Thomas @ 12:17 AM :: 8577 Views :: Hawaii County , Akaka Bill, Energy, Environment

DW Aina Lea Dev. LLC v. State of Hawaii Land Use Comm'n, No. 11--1-0112K ....

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Sunday, March 18, 2012
Trickle-Down Regulation: Environmental Maze Becomes "Stumbling Block" For The Little Guys
By Robert Thomas @ 11:07 PM :: 6294 Views :: Energy, Environment

 Thus, even purportedly green activity could be "development" after all, even if it involves a native Hawaiian fishpond....

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Thursday, February 23, 2012
VIDEO: Ilya Shapiro (Cato Institute), In Hawaii Speaking About Obamacare Supreme Court Cases
By Robert Thomas @ 8:31 PM :: 7777 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

"Five weeks from now, the Supreme Court is taking up the most important case it's had since Brown vs. Board of Education."

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Thursday, February 23, 2012
Book Review: Callies, Regulating Paradise (2d ed. 2010)
By Robert Thomas @ 8:26 PM :: 7214 Views :: Energy, Environment

Regulatingparadise...

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Thursday, February 23, 2012
"Nonresident" Property Owners Must Employ Property Managers For TVRs?
By Robert Thomas @ 8:08 PM :: 8694 Views :: Energy, Environment

HB1707 and SB2089 will require "nonresident" property owners who rent their property for thirty days or less (transient vacation rentals) to use a licensed real estate broker to rent the property, and to employ a property manager to operate it....

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Sunday, February 12, 2012
Supreme Court Decision Clarifies Line Between Discipline and Abuse
By Robert Thomas @ 5:52 PM :: 6573 Views :: Energy, Environment

The court held that "parents have a constitutional right to discipline children...."

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Do-Over Sought In Hawaii Reapportionment Case
By Robert Thomas @ 2:56 PM :: 6715 Views :: Energy, Environment

The Commission has now sought "clarification and/or reconsideration," first asking the court for more guidance on the method of "extracting" non-permanent residents from the population base and the procedure for preparing a new plan, and second arguing that the inability to separate resident and nonresident military personnel makes the court's requirement that the Commission do so unconstitutional under the equal protection clause. 

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Saturday, January 14, 2012
Supreme Court Keeps East Maui Water Case Alive
By Robert Thomas @ 11:44 PM :: 11036 Views :: Kauai County, DHHL, Energy, Environment

The court concluded the ICA has appellate jurisdiction because the Acting Deputy Director to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources certified the Water Commission minutes by signing them....

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Friday, January 6, 2012
HAWSCT: "Best Efforts" Are Not Good Enough In Reapportionment. But...
By Robert Thomas @ 1:55 AM :: 6975 Views :: Energy, Environment

No one exiting the Hawaii Supreme Court courtroom yesterday after oral arguments in the redistricting cases should have had much doubt about what the court was going to do....

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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Exclusive Hawaii Premiere: Battle for Brooklyn, Academy Award Contending Documentary About Eminent Domain
By Robert Thomas @ 8:02 PM :: 8748 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

On January 3 and 4, 2012, at 1:00 and 7:30 p.m. each day, the Honolulu Academy of Arts Doris Duke Theater is presenting the Hawaii premiere of Battle For Brooklyn, the Academy Award-contending documentary about the Atlantic Yards eminent domain fight....

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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Hawaii Ct App Upholds Attorneys Fees And Costs For Eminent Domain Appeals
By Robert Thomas @ 7:58 PM :: 6438 Views :: Energy, Environment

The ICA relied on County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P'ship, which held that if an eminent domain action is dismissed or otherwise fails, the property owner is entitled to recover the attorneys' fees and costs it incurs in the case....

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Monday, December 12, 2011
Supreme Court asks for Federal Input on Challenge to Hawaii Admission Act, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act
By Robert Thomas @ 3:13 PM :: 9118 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

Today was the day we were to have found out whether the Supreme Court would review Corboy v. Louie....

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Sunday, December 11, 2011
"Accretion," Hawaii Style
By Robert Thomas @ 12:39 AM :: 10390 Views :: Hawaii County , Akaka Bill, Energy, Environment

Who owns the new land created when lava flows over private property and into the sea and hardens into fast land?

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
US Supreme Court to Decide Whether to Hear Lawsuit Challenging DHHL, Admission Act
By Robert Thomas @ 1:43 AM :: 8157 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

At its December 9, 2011 conference, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to review Corboy v. Louie....

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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Hawaii Supreme Court to Consider Limit of Parental Discipline
By Robert Thomas @ 4:52 PM :: 7306 Views :: Energy, Environment

...what standards govern the Family Court's evaluation of an application for a civil TRO in light of a parent's fundamental right to discipline his or her children (which includes the right to use reasonable corporal punishment)....

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Sunday, November 13, 2011
Potemkin Village, Hawaiian Style?
By Robert Thomas @ 1:09 PM :: 7208 Views :: Energy, Environment

In Opportunity comes ashore, the daily paper reports that among other things, they wanted the world to see Hawaii as a good place to do business....

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Full Text: Abercrombie Admin Defends Judicial Selection Secrecy in Court
By Robert Thomas @ 1:22 AM :: 6045 Views :: Energy, Environment

Governor Abercrombie filed his opposition to the Star-Advertiser's motion for summary judgment, and his own cross-motion for summary judgment in the case in which the Star-Advertiser seeks disclosure of the Judicial Selection Commission list from the Governor

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Saturday, October 29, 2011
Superferry: Honolulu Lawyer Dissects Civil Beat’s Latest “Fact Check” Debacle
By Robert Thomas @ 10:39 AM :: 6940 Views :: Energy, Environment

Attempting to "fact check" an opinion is a fool's errand.

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Thursday, October 27, 2011
US Supreme Court asked to Decide Constitutionality of Cash Payments for Development Approvals
By Robert Thomas @ 5:29 PM :: 8038 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

There is a better-than-usual chance that the Supreme Court will agree to review the case, since the Ninth Circuit’s decision squarely conflicts with decisions by the California and Texas Supreme Courts....

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Saturday, October 22, 2011
FULL TEXT: Motion For Summary Judgment Forcing Disclosure of Abercrombie’s Judicial Nominees
By Robert Thomas @ 2:21 AM :: 6259 Views :: Energy, Environment

...motion for summary judgment in the case which seeks disclosure of the JSC list from the Governor....

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Saturday, October 8, 2011
Climate Change and Regulatory Takings in Coastal Hawaii
By Robert Thomas @ 11:26 PM :: 6950 Views :: Energy, Environment

The Center for Island Climate Adaptation and Policy (“ICAP”) at the UH Sea Grant College Program has prepared this paper to examine the interactions among climate change, the regulation of shoreline development in Hawai‘i, and Constitutional law regarding unpermitted takings of private property for public benefit

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Thursday, October 6, 2011
State of Hawaii to SCOTUS: Protect Property Rights from "Overreaching Federal Regulation"
By Robert Thomas @ 7:42 PM :: 10012 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

Precluding pre-enforcement judicial review buttresses a regime where EPA has assumed the authority to enjoin development by issuing unreviewable compliance orders. Such a result is repugnant to the core principle in the Due Process Clause that "[n]o person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

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Sunday, October 2, 2011
US Supreme Court Asked to Decide: Is Hawaiian Homes Property Tax Exemption Racial Discrimination?
By Robert Thomas @ 12:02 AM :: 8285 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

In a cert petition filed September 15, five Hawaii taxpayers argue that they have standing to challenge the constitutionality of property tax exemptions conferred on lessees of Hawaiian Homesteads.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Lawyer: US Supreme Court needs to Hear Hokulia Bypass Case
By Robert Thomas @ 7:05 PM :: 11812 Views :: Hawaii County , Akaka Bill, Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

Today, we filed the Reply Brief in the case that asks: after Kelo, when is eminent domain pretextual?

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Thursday, August 25, 2011
Full Text: Star-Adv Suit hits Abercrombie Secrecy on Judicial Nominees
By Robert Thomas @ 12:58 PM :: 6492 Views :: Energy, Environment

...the Honolulu Star-Advertiser filed a Complaint asking the circuit court to order the Governor to publicly release the list of judicial nominees presented to him by the Judicial Selection Commission, now that the Hawaii Senate has consented to the Governor's appointment of Justice McKenna....

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Tuesday, August 23, 2011
US Supreme Court will soon decide whether to hear Hokulia Bypass Case
By Robert Thomas @ 2:48 AM :: 10647 Views :: Hawaii County , Akaka Bill, Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

Last week the developer and the County of Hawaii filed their joint Brief in Opposition in C & J Coupe Family Limited Partnership v. County of Hawaii....

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Friday, July 29, 2011
Full Text: State LUC moves for dismissal of Bridge Aina Lea Suit
By Robert Thomas @ 9:41 PM :: 12685 Views :: Hawaii County , Akaka Bill, Energy, Environment

Here's the latest in a case we've been following. In Bridge Aina Lea, LLC v. State of Hawaii Land Use Comm'n....

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Monday, July 18, 2011
Hokulia Bypass Case Appealed to US Supreme Court
By Robert Thomas @ 7:38 PM :: 15004 Views :: Hawaii County , Akaka Bill, Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

On July 14, 2011, we filed a cert petition, which asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision in County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P'ship....

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