Articles

Author: Ralph W. Kasarda For anyone unfamiliar with Native Hawaiian language, a "haole" is a term used to describe a foreigner, especially a white person. Over time, it has become a derogatory slang term to be used in contempt of white people. See here. While some Native Hawaiians may use the term in contempt, others … ...

Author: Brandon Middleton The Kauai Interscholastic Federation is a high school athletics league in Hawaii.  Like so many other leagues in the country, the KIF is strapped for cash. So why would the league switch its games from the traditional Friday night lights to Saturday afternoons, when Saturday games mean hotter temperatures, fewer fans ...

Author: Joshua Thompson Our friends over at the Center for Equal Opportunity have shed some light on some shady tactics by our lame-duck congress.  It seems that the outgoing members might try to push through the "Akaka Bill."  That Bill attempts to get native Hawaiians classified as Indian tribes so that preferences granted b ...

Author: Joshua Thompson     Earlier this month, I reported about the efforts of our friends from the Center for Equal Opportunity to defeat the Akaka Bill.  The Akaka Bill would have attempted to legitimize racial preferences for Hawaiians throughout the United States. However, the Cato Institute is reporting that the ...

Author:  Anne Hayes If you scroll through the staff photos on our website, you will find Robert Thomas as the attorney who heads up PLF's Hawaii Center.  Although Mr. Thomas works with PLF, he hold the title of Director at a private law firm in Hawaii and specializes in land use and appellate law.  He … ...

The Pacific Legal Foundation filed an amicus brief this week in the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to review Hawaii’s racially discriminatory tax laws in a case called Corboy v. Louie. … ...

On Friday, December 9, 2011, the United States Supreme Court considered whether it should agree to accept certiorari in an important equal protection case from Hawaii.  The issue in Corboy v. Louie, is whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a state or municipality from creating tax exemptions that are available o ...

Briefing is now complete in the case Corboy v. Louie, a case that will hopefully result in the invalidation of a race-based property tax scheme in Hawaii.  The Supreme Court will decide on June 21st whether to review the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision that tossed out a challenge to the discriminatory tax law.  PLF’s brief in … ...

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied a petition for writ of certiorari in a case concerning Hawaii’s discriminatory race-based property tax scheme that forces non-preferred races to pay a higher tax rate.  The case is called Corboy v. Louie. Here’s the background.  In 1921, when Hawaii was still a U.S. territory and not a state, Con ...