Case Highlights

 

Individual Claims Review Panel Claimants

 

By 8 a.m., the crowd began forming a line to enter the Hawaii Supreme Court. After waiting six years since the state appealed a circuit court decision, individuals known as ICRP claimants anxiously gathered to learn the fate of their longstanding question -- could they sue the state?

     “I’m going to be 87-years-old by the end of the year,” said Evangeline Lanai. “I would like to have something happen as I’m getting sick and old. Thirteen years ago Mrs. Lanai was one of NHLC’s first clients to participate in an administrative hearings process set up to address breach of trust claims by native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust.  On the morning of May 30, 2006, Mrs. Lanai came to the oral arguments in a wheel chair, attended by her nephew.

The case began when former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano, through a veto, shut down the administrative process even though investigations and hearings were held on only one-half of the claimants. “The claimants had no recourse but to file a class action lawsuit in circuit court to preserve their rights as trust beneficiaries,” said Carl Varady, one of the attorneys representing the class of 2,721 claimants.

In 2000, Circuit Court Judge Victoria Marks ruled that the claimants could exercise their statutory right to sue. The beneficiaries are represented by Thomas Grande and Stan Levin of Davis Levin Livingston Grande as well as Mr. Varady. The state filed its appeal in April 2000, stating that claimants did not have the right to sue the state

“It’s been an extremely long and frustrating road for many claimants and for some it’s been a death march,” said attorney Alan Murakami of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. He said NHLC knew of at least 48 claimants who have died since the appeal process began
 

What was the Hawaiian Home Lands Individual Claims Review Process?

In 1991 the state legislature and then Gov. John Waihee recognized that the state’s mismanagement of the Hawaiian Home Lands program had hurt individual beneficiaries. To address the harm inflicted on ordinary citizens, the legislature created a way in which beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust could, for the first time in the history of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act:

• Bring forth their grievances or claims of how they were harmed or suffered setbacks by past decisions or actions of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands or the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

• Have their claims investigated and argued before a hearings officer not connected to DHHL.

• Have a neutral body, the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Individual Claims Review Panel, give a recommendation as to whether certain people did indeed suffer a wrong and how they should he compensated by the state.

      The process included specific parameters to narrow its scope. For example, people could only file claims for harms suffered during the years 1959 to 1988 and the deadline for filing a claim was August 31, 1995.  While the claims process gave beneficiaries their first taste of due process it was not a slam-dunk or automatic win for them. Once a person filed a claim, the Hawaiian Claims Office conducted a preliminary review to determine if the claim had enough merit to warrant a full investigation and hearing. In the hearings process, individual beneficiaries were expected to present evidence or witnesses supporting their claim. While the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands was represented by deputy attorneys general, many of the claimants did not have the financial resources to hire their own attorney. If the claimant prevailed, he or she received a recommendation from the panel for damages or corrective action. However, the panel’s decisions were not final. Rather, they were taken to the state legislature for ultimate approval.
The first batch of completed recommendations was sent to the legislature in 1997.

Lawmakers failed to appropriate any money and said it wanted to wait until decisions were reached in all of the claims. In the delay, the Cayetano administration lobbied the legislature for changes in the qualifying criteria used by the panel. The state hoped to reduce — by about 2/3rds— the number of people who could participate in the hearings process or obtain compensation after a successful outcome. The new standards were to be applied retroactively — after the deadline for filing claims had passed, after the preliminary investigation showed that a person’s claim had enough merit to justify a hearing, and even after a person had already prevailed in the hearings process and received a favorable decision. NHLC successfully challenged the state’s proposed changes in July 1998. Although the 1999 legislature approved a bill to extend the life of the panel by one year, the bill was vetoed by the governor

Bittersweet Victory

On June 30, 2006, the ICRP claimants got their answer. In a unanimous decision 5-0 decision, the Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed the right of claimants to sue the state.  “I hoped there would be justice while I’m still alive.” said Mrs. Lanai from her home in Nanakuli.  “Before my husband died, he told me ‘I hope something happens soon mama because it won’t happen in my time’ ”.