Planet Kaua`i

• Who should benefit when beaches grow by accretion?

  Number of comments: 1
  ...The state, or oceanfront landowners?
  
  And does it affect your opinion that when beaches erode it is the oceanfront landowners who bear the loss?
  
  Today's Star Bulletin provides some background on the question, which was the subject of oral arguments before the ICA back on Nov. 10. [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 5:11am EST
  by charley foster

• The ongoing saga of Kauai County Charter Section 20.02

  Number of comments: 0
  Andy Parx has another in his worthwhile series of posts on the ongoing controversy over Kauai County Charter's ethics provision that no officer or employee of the county shall appear in behalf of private interests before any county board, commission or agency.
  
  Recall the recent county' [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 10:48am EST
  by charley foster

• Hilo TSA child porn suppression case

  Number of comments: 3
  KITV -
  A federal judge in Hawaii on Tuesday threw out all the evidence against a man caught with child pornography at Hilo Airport.
  By law, the TSA must search all checked baggage for explosives. Although conducted without warrants, such searches are considered constitutionally reasonable administrative searches provided that [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 11:53am EST
  by charley foster

• Friday gecko blogging

  Number of comments: 2
  Where I grew up, instead of geckos, we had these -
  
  
  
  They had pleasant dispositions, as do geckos, and I caught many as "pets" as a child; but these guys, while not having detachable tails, had one very cool feature over geckos. They could [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:19am EST
  by charley foster

• Great motions to dismiss

  Number of comments: 5
  State v. Wheeler is a freshly filed Hawaii Supreme Court opinion that ruled that the operation of a vehicle "on a public way, street, road, or highway" is an essential element of the offense of Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant, and that a charge that [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:00pm EST
  by charley foster

• Publishing pictures of DUI arrestees

  Number of comments: 5
  Star Bulletin -
  The Honolulu Police Department's plans to post the names and photos of alleged drunken drivers on a new Web page have disturbed some attorneys, who say it's unconstitutional and will infringe on the person's right to a fair trial.
  Is it unconstitutional? I'm not so sure. [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:37am EST
  by charley foster

• Kauai County manager would be unconstitutional, according to county attorney

  Number of comments: 0
  In response to a request for an opinion on the Charter Review Commission's proposal to amend the charter to allow for a county manager form of government, the county attorney's office asserts that such a change would violate both the state constitution and state statutes. (Here's a copy of' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:07am EST
  by charley foster

• Search legal opinions and journals on Google Scholar beta

  Number of comments: 0
  ...as of tonight!
  
  Here's the official announcement on The Official Google Blog. Search by case name or topic here. It appears to include federal bankruptcy, district and appellate court cases, and state appellate decisions. I see that internal citations are hyperlinked. That's a nice feature. Unfortunately, [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:03pm EST
  by charley foster

• Reviving priveleges or immunities, maybe

  Number of comments: 2
  Overturning Slaughterhouse would certainly change Con Law II for all time. Con Law II is the second of two constitutional law classes in the oddly universal law school curriculum, and Slaughterhouse was a consolidated case in which the Supreme Court in 1873 first interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:03am EST
  by charley foster

• Hawaii Supreme Court expands criminal defendants' right to counsel

  Number of comments: 0
  The U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment right to assistance of counsel does not give a criminal defendant the right to confer with counsel during breaks in trial when the defendant is testifying. (In other words, when the defendant is on the stand, and the court takes a short break, the court [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 8:22am EST
  by charley foster

• Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Redskins trademark

  Number of comments: 0
  Actually, the Supreme Court declined to hear "[w]hether the doctrine of laches is applicable to a cancellation petition filed pursuant to Section 1064(3) of the Lanham Act despite the plain meaning of the statutory language stating that such a petition may be filed “at any time.”"
  
  A group of [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 4:04am EST
  by charley foster

• Prof. Jon Osorio and his attorneys, Mililani Trask and Ke'eaumoku Ka'iama

  Number of comments: 2
  ...discussing the ceded lands case here on Big Island Video News.com [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 5:07pm EST
  by charley foster

• 9th Circuit clarifies abuse of discretion standard

  Number of comments: 0
  On appeal, issues decided by trial courts are accorded various levels of discretion. For instance, trial courts have a great deal of discretion when making findings of fact. Appellate courts are supposed to respect that discretion when reviewing the factual findings of trial courts and are to overturn factual findings [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 10:28am EST
  by charley foster

• "Whatever Happened to the Contract Clause?"

  Number of comments: 0
  Via Legal History Blog, an interesting history of what was once "the most litigated provision in the Constitution and...the chief restriction on state authority" but which ultimately fell victim to New Deal constitutionalism.
  
  Article I, section 10, clause 1 -
  No State shall enter into any [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 3:19pm EST
  by charley foster

• Bruce Davidson

  Number of comments: 3
  Today's New York Times (Which we buy for the book reviews, honest, nothing else) featured a piece on Bruce Davidson, a photographer I've admired for many years. So here's one of his photos I've always liked -
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 3:25pm EST
  by charley foster

• Un-slaughtering the Privileges or Immunities Clause

  Number of comments: 0
  What a great title for a symposium:
  
  "A Vain and Idle Enactment: Could McDonald v. Chicago Un-Slaughter the Privileges or Immunities Clause?"
  
  The Privileges or Immunities Clause is part of the Fourteenth Amendment passed, of course, after the Civil War. It says, "No State shall" [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 12:06pm EST
  by charley foster

• No furloughs for state judges

  Number of comments: 2
  It would violate the state constitution. Paul Curtis has a related piece in the Garden Island this morning -
  Article XVI; Section [3.5]. There shall be a commission on salaries as provided by law, which shall review and recommend salaries for the justices and judges of all state [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 2:31am EST
  by charley foster

• Would you freak

  Number of comments: 3
  ...if you were an attorney and a deputy walked up and rummaged through your case file behind your back and took a document while you were at the podium addressing the court?
  
  
  
  Here's a related article from Heat City ("Hard News in the Public Interest from'" [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 3:41pm EST
  by charley foster

• New furlough lawsuit

  Number of comments: 0
  This one based on a due process argument according to the Star-Bulletin -
  The latest complaint contends that shortening the school year by 17 days without giving adequate notice and opportunity for public comment violated students' rights to due process of law.
  
  "We have a constitutionally created educational'" [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 3:12am EST
  by charley foster

• Another landmark in long-running Hawaiian Home Lands case

  Number of comments: 0
  The Advertiser -The class-action lawsuit Kalima v. State of Hawaii was filed on behalf of more than 2,700 DHHL beneficiaries. It alleged that DHHL did not provide homes in a timely and prompt manner as required by the Admission Act.The Star-Bulletin -
  The decision yesterday came in a [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 12:08pm EST
  by charley foster

• Plaintiff's attorney comments on Kaloko Dam settlement

  Number of comments: 0
  Philip R. Brown -
  The Kaloko Dam flood was a terrible tragedy, about which I previously posted in September of 2007. I am happy to report that we have reached a successful settlement, which will allow our clients to restore their idyllic property. [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:23am EST
  by charley foster