Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 9, 1 September 1999 — U.S. to argue in Rice? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

U.S. to argue in Rice?

U P D A T E S

By Paula Durbln WHEN THE State of Hawai'i filed its brief as the respondent in Rice vs. Cayetano, it was joined by numerous amiei curiae who either filed or signed onto friend-of-the-court briefs setting forth a rationale for upholding the law that restricts OHA elections to voters of Hawaiian ancestry. Normally, an amicus curiae does not argue before the court. However, according to Cynthia Quinn, special assistant to Hawai'i's attorney general, the United States Office of the Solicitor General, an amicus curiae

in this case, has submitted a request to do so on Oct. 6 when the court is scheduled to hear the case. "We have every expectation the request will be granted," said Quinn. "This situation is unique." Earlier in the summer, Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees Chair Rowena Akana and others from OHA traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with attomeys at the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General. According to OHA's board attomey Sherry Broder, their presentations convinced Solicitor General Seth Waxman to file ihe brief clarifying the position See RICE on page 3

RICE From page 1 of the United States government on the issue in Rice. Contrary to Petitioner Harold "Freddy" Rice's contention, the Office of the Solicitor General insists the Hawai'i law does not discriminate on the basis of race in violation of .the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. According to the solicitor general's brief, "Congress does not extend benefits and services to Native Hawaiians because of their race, but because of their unique status as the indigenous people of a once-sovereign nation as to whom the United States has a recognized trust responsibility." "The fact that the solicitor general filed an amicus brief supportive of the state is very important," commented Quinn. "The position of the solicitor general carries a lot of weight with the United States Supreme Court." Quinn said the Office of the Attorney General expects within the next few weeks a decision on whether the solicitor general will have the opportunity to argue. In addition to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Office of the Solicitor General, amiei filing in support of the State of Hawai'i by the July 28 deadline included Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, Ka Lāhui Hawai'i, the Association of Hawaiian

Civic Clubs, the Council of Hawaiian Organizations, the Native Hawaiian Bar Association, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council, Hā Hawai'i, the Native Hawaiian Convention, Hui Kālai'āina, Alu Like ine., Papa Ola Lōkahi, the Alaskan Native Federation, the National Congress of American Indians, and the states of California, Alaska, Alabama, Nevada, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Oregon, as well as the Territory of Guam and the Commonweahh of the Northern Mariana

Law profes8or Jon Van Dyke, who assisted with OHA'a amieua brief in Rice vs. Cayetano, explained the eaae to Papakolea homesteaders in early AugusL

Kjt . — ' PHOTO: PAULA DURB1N