Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 10, 1 October 1999 — U.S. to argue; Waiheʻe to attend [ARTICLE]

U.S. to argue; Waiheʻe to attend

Sy Pūula Durbin ĪHE UNITED States Supreme Court has granted the request by the Solicitor General of the United States to argue in favor of the State of Hawai'i's position when the court hears Rice vs. Cayetano Oct. 6. Solicitor General Seth Waxman filed one of the numerous friend-of-the-court supporting the constitutionality of the Iimitation restricting participa-

tion in Office of Hawaiian Affairs elections to voters of Hawaiian ancestry. Arguing for the Solicitor General will be the office specialist on native issues, Edwin Kneedler. Both the petitioner Harold "Freddy" Rice and the State of Hawai'i have 30 minutes eaeh to present their case to the justices, and of the state's half-hour, Kneedler will use 10 minutes and John Roberts, the Washington attorney hired to represent the

state, will use the remainder. "I think it will make an excellent team," said OHA board attorney Sherry Broder. She added that last term the Supreme Court clerks had v.oted Roberts the most effective attorney at oral argument. As petitioner, Rice had the opportunity to respond to the state's brief and he filed his reply in early September. "But," said Broder, "he raised See RICE on page 3

R I C E VS. CAYETANO

RICE Rice from page 1

no new points. He merely repeated what has already been raised." Rice will be the second case the court hears on Oct. 6. Former Governor John Waihe'e has accepted the invitation of Governor Ben Cayetano to attend the arguments representing the State of Hawai'i. "He knew of my background with OHA and the 1978 Con Con," explained Waihe'e who as a delegate to the 1978 constitutional convention was among those who spearheaded the constitutional provision creating OHA. "Obviously we want to see the constitutionality of the elections upheld. This is important for the state and for Hawaiians in particular ," he added. Waihe'e's firm, Verner Liipfert Bernhard McPherson Hand, is one of those OHA has been hired to work on aspects of the Rice case. Broder expects the court room to be packed. "I've been informed by the marshall of the Supreme Court that so far more interest has been shown in this case than any other scheduled for argument this term." She has arranged reserved seating in the public section for the OHA trustees who will be in Washington when the case is argued. ■