September 15, 2005
Contributed by Thomas Yoshida
In addition to filing of Amicus Curiae briefs from Hawai'i's congressional delegation, state attorney general and Honolulu's city corporation counsel, Kamehameha Schools received support form local and national organizations all supporting the school's 117-year-old admission's policy.
Most recently the Hawai'i Civil Rights Commission, Equal Justice Society/JACL and the Hawai'i Business Roundtable filed briefs with the 9th Circuit.
One of the larger support group came from the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), a voluntary membership organization that represents more than 1,200 private, independent elementary and secondary schools throughout the United States.
In their brief, NAIS notes, "the panel majority decision represents an unprecedented judicial intrusion into the very core of the remedial mission of a completely privately funded independent school." The brief also points out the that no court at any level had ever invalidated a remedial policy of any independent primary or secondary school.
The National Indian Education Association (NIEA), the largest and oldest Indian education organization in the United States and the Alaskan Federal of Natives (AFN), consisting of 13 regional native corporations forming the largest statewide native organization in Alaska, also filed Amici Curiae motions.
Locally, four coalitions filed motions with the Ninth Circuit. They include:
• Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Native Hawaiian Bar Association, and Na 'A 'ahuhiwa
• 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition
• Hawaiian Service Organizations representing 16 organizations and represents and improves every major component of systematic deprivation historically imposed on Native Hawaiians.
• Ohana Council
With Kamehameha Schools' petition filed on August 23, the 24 judges from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether to call for a vote or to request an opinion from the original three-judge panel on whether to rehear the case. In the meantime, Kamehameha Schools' preference policy, which has been in place since The Schools' founding in 1887, remains in effect.
Links to Amicus Curiae briefs:
Hawai'i Civil Rights Commission (Adobe PDF, 1.3 MB)
Hawai'i Business Roundtable (Adobe PDF, 704 KB)
Equal Justice Society/Japanese American Cititizens League (Adobe PDF, 696 KB)
National Association of Idependant Schools (Adobe PDF, 676 KB)
National Indian Education Association and the Alaskan Federal of Natives (Adobe PDF, 1.1 MB)
Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Native Hawaiian Bar Association, and Na'a'ahuhiwa (Adobe PDF, 892 KB)
State of Hawai'i Attorney General (Adobe PDF, 3 MB)
Honolulu City Corporation Counsel (Adobe PDF, 2 MB)
Hawaiian Service Organization (Adobe PDF, 1 MB)
'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition (Adobe PDF, 1 MB)
U.S. Congressional and Senate Delegation (Adobe PDF, 3 MB)
Ohana Council (Adobe PDF, 1 MB)
Kamehameha Schools' petition for en banc review (Adobe PDF 2.69 MB)
Kamehameha Schools’ policy is to give preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry to the extent permitted by law.
