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Judge Rules Against State on Hawaiian Home Lands
By Star-Bulletin staff
POSTED: 02:59 p.m. HST, Nov 04, 2009
A Judge as ruled that the state is liable for monetary damages for failing to put native Hawaiians on the land to which they were entitled under the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Hifo ruled yesterday that the state failed its trust responsibilities and that the breach of trust caused delays in homestead awards, attorneys for the plaintiffs said.
Carl Varady, one of the attorneys involved, said it is "speculative" to say yet how much money is involved because the amount is yet to be determined.
He said the damages could include out of pocket losses suffered by the plaintiffs, including mortgage and rent payments made by the plaintiffs when they should have been on homesteads.
The decision yesterday came in a class action lawsuit filed in 1999 on behalf of about 2,700 native Hawaiians who claimed they were not promptly awarded homesteads between 1959 and 1988.
The beneficiaries filed claims under a 1991 law passed to compensate them for their losses resulting from the delays. But the state shut down the administrative process in 1999, prompting the lawsuit.
The case went up to the state Supreme Court before being sent back down to Circuit Court for trial this year.
"Some of our clients waited more than 30 years or longer for a homestead award and some still are waiting," said attorney Tom Grande.
A judge has ruled that the state is liable for monetary damages for failing to put native Hawaiians on the land to which they were entitled under the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Hifo ruled yesterday that the state failed its trust responsibilities and that the breach of trust caused delays in homestead awards, attorneys for the plaintiffs said.
Carl Varady, one of the attorneys involved, said it is "speculative" to say yet how much money is involved because the amount is yet to be determined.
He said the damages could include out of pocket losses suffered by the plaintiffs, including mortgage and rent payments made by the plaintiffs when they should have been on homesteads.
The decision yesterday came in a class action lawsuit filed in 1999 on behalf of about 2,700 native Hawaiians who claimed they were not promptly awarded homesteads between 1959 and 1988.
The beneficiaries filed claims under a 1991 law passed to compensate them for their losses resulting from the delays. But the state shut down the administrative process in 1999, prompting the lawsuit.
The case went up to the state Supreme Court before being sent back down to Circuit Court for trial this year.
"Some of our clients waited more than 30 years or longer for a homestead award and some still are waiting," said attorney Tom Grande.
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