Hawaii’s position as the 50th State provides an interesting vantage to view the governance of those territorial areas that are within the United States but are not a state. Since the late 1890’s, the United States has been vexed by the metaphysical question: how do we classify those persons living in geographic areas under the
“When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to catch whole for they will break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl of their own will onto a knife blade and lift them gently into your bottle of sea water. And
This blog usually doesn't cover criminal matters unless they involve piracy or the ocean environment. But, last year's case about the meaning of the word "vessel" has us on the watch for cases involving, well…, grammar.
The Supreme Court handed down a decision today which attempted to address what Congress means when it lists a
Last year, Gregory W. Kugle and I provided our annual Hawaii real estate litigation update for the Hawaii State Bar Association's Real Property and Financial Services Section. The outline, with links to the cases, is provided below and a video of the presentation is conveniently on YouTube. So, consider yourself updated on what happened in
The case is Paeste v. Government of Guam and the opinion can be found here.
The Ninth Circuit struck down a challenge to the constitutionality of the Jones Act or Merchant Marine Act of 1920. The case was Novak v. United States and the opinion can be found here.
The litigated component of the Jones Act (rest easy merchant mariners, you didn't lose your worker compensation causes of action)
The Ninth Circuit rejected a challenge to California's Shark Fin Law, Cal. Fish & Game Code § 2021(b) which makes it "unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, or distribute a shark fin" in the state. The case is Chinatown Neighborhood Ass'n v. Harris and the opinion can be found here
As a random quirk of our law practice, we have done some work with the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission. Not surprisingly, the Commission's laws and regulations were challenged after the Citizen's United case and today, we have the Ninth Circuit's take on Hawaii's election laws in light of Citizen's United. It upheld Hawaii's election laws
The Federal Judiciary just released its business report for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014.
Where does the District of Hawaii, conceptually rendered above, stack up?
For civil cases, in terms of median time from filing to trial, D. Haw. has a median time interval of 15.5 months. The average median
The City and County of Honolulu just filed a Petition for Rehearing or Rehearing En Banc with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in its defense of Honolulu’s concealed carriage of firearms laws. The case is Baker v. Kealoha and the petition can be found here. The Ninth Circuit’s panel’s memorandum opinion in the case can be found here.
Disclosure: we represent amicus curiae Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in the district court and at the Ninth Circuit.
In Baker, the Ninth Circuit noted its published decision in the case of Peruta v. County of San Diego, and followed the holding finding that concealed carry license laws that require a showing of good cause impermissibly infringed on citizen’s Second Amendment rights. It overturned the preliminary injunction and remanded the case to the District Court for trial.
In the City’s Petition, it argues that Peruta contravenes the Supreme Court decision that started this national wave of gun rights litigation, District of Columbia v. Heller, and the presumptive lawfulness of concealed carry laws. It then argues that rehearing of Baker, either by the panel or en banc, is appropriate because of several conflicting circuit court decisions from other courts. Finally, the City argued that Baker conflicts with the Ninth Circuit’s decision in United States v. Chovan which found that the ‘core’ of the Second Amendment was the right to carry a firearm in the home. The City asserts that Baker’s holding makes firearm carriage outside the home the functional equivalent of inside the home and thus, conflicts with Chovan.
Stay tuned for further developments in this highly dynamic area of constitutional law.
Our earlier post on this case is here and here.
Panel Decision oral arguments can be heard at – Download 12-16258 (1).
The Plaintiff’s Opening Brief is: here.The City’s Answering Brief is: here. The Brady Center’s amicus brief is: here.