Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 1, 1 January 2004 — Solidarity rally set for Jan. 12 [ARTICLE]

Solidarity rally set for Jan. 12

On Jan. 12, OHA will be holding a rally to demonstrate Native Hawaiian solidarity during a hearing that could result in the agency's dismissal as the last remaining defendant in the Arakaki v. Lingle case. The Ali'i trusts, several Hawaiian royal societies, Kamehameha Schools and the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations will be participating in the rally at the Federal Courthouse, from 710:30 a.m. The puhlie is asked to wear red shirts and to bring signs. The lawsuit originally sought to shut down OHA and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), claiming that government programs that benefit only Native Hawaiians are unconstitutional. In a hearing in November, U.S.

District Judge Susan Oki Mollway ruled that the plaintiffs' standing as state taxpayers was not enough to challenge the Hawaiian Home Lands federal program or payments OHA receives from ceded land revenues. Her order dismissed DHHL, the Hawaiian Homes Commission, state homesteaders associations and the federal government from the case. However, Mollway said that state tax revenues appropriated by the Legislature to OHA may be challenged. At 9 a.m. on Jan. 12, OHA attorney Sherry Broder is expected to argue that OHA should be dismissed because Congress has recognized Native Hawaiians as a political group, as opposed to a racial one, with a status similar to that of Native Americans and Native Alaskans. ■