HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has an opportunity to affirm — or gut — the state’s promise to protect Native Hawaiians. But based on the line of questioning justices pursued during oral arguments in State v. Pratt on Thursday
HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has an opportunity to affirm — or gut — the state’s promise to protect Native Hawaiians.
But based on the line of questioning justices pursued during oral arguments in State v. Pratt on Thursday morning, it seems likely that they’ll limit their decision to a narrower issue of land use regulations.
Lloyd “Ikaika” Pratt was cited three different times in 2004 for being in the Kalalau Valley, part of Kaua‘i’s Na Pali State Park, in violation of state rules. He said that as a Native Hawaiian, he should be exempt from those rules because he had a constitutional right to take up residence as a caretaker.
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