Haw. Rev. Stat. § 10H-3
(a) There is established a five-member Native Hawaiian roll commission within the office of Hawaiian affairs for administrative purposes only. The Native Hawaiian roll commission shall be responsible for:
(2) Certifying that the individuals on the roll of qualified Native Hawaiians meet the definition of qualified Native Hawaiians. For purposes of establishing the roll, a "qualified Native Hawaiian" means an individual whom the commission determines has satisfied the following criteria and who makes a written statement certifying that the individual:
(b) No later than one hundred eighty days after [July 6, 2011], the governor shall appoint the members of the Native Hawaiian roll commission from nominations submitted by qualified Native Hawaiians and qualified Native Hawaiian membership organizations. For the purposes of this subsection, a qualified Native Hawaiian membership organization includes an organization that, on [July 6, 2011], has been in existence for at least ten years, and whose purpose has been and is the betterment of the conditions of the Native Hawaiian people.
In selecting the five members from nominations submitted by qualified Native Hawaiians and qualified Native Hawaiian membership organizations, the governor shall appoint the members as follows:
[L 2011, c 195, pt of §2; am L 2012, c 84, §1; am L 2013, c 77, §1]
The Crown Lands Trust: Who Were, Who Are, the Beneficiaries? 38 UH L. Rev. 213 (2016).
A New Narrative: Native Hawaiian Law. 39 UH L. Rev. 233 (2016).
Reconciling Maoli Interests in a Haole Forum: Limitations to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Consultation Policy That Undermine Native Hawaiian Self-Determination. 46 UH L. Rev. 93 (2023).
District court did not err by denying the motion to intervene by prospective intervenors who qualified as Native Hawaiians under a definition narrower than the definition in the 2011 legislation and who sought to challenge the more liberal definition, the creation of a Native Hawaiian government based on that definition, and the related expenditure of state trust funds intended to benefit Native Hawaiians. The prospective intervenors' interests would not be impaired or impeded as a result of the plaintiffs' litigation; their claims would raise entirely different issues from those raised by the plaintiffs and they could adequately protect their interests in separate litigation. 835 F.3d 1003 (2016).
Plaintiffs' interlocutory appeal dismissed as moot, where plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction solely to prevent defendants from undertaking certain voter registration activities and from calling or holding racially-exclusive elections for Native Hawaiians. Given the changed circumstances, the court could not provide any effective relief sought in the preliminary injunction request; also, the appeal did not fall within an exception to the mootness doctrine. 835 F.3d 1003 (2016).
In 42 U.S.C. §1983 action brought by native Hawaiians and Hawaii residents of non-Hawaiian ancestry challenging statutory restrictions on registering for a "roll" of qualified native Hawaiians as violative of their First Amendment and equal protection rights, the public interest would not be served by a preliminary injunction to halt nonprofit corporation's private election of native Hawaiian delegates to a convention of native Hawaiians to discuss, and possibly organize, native Hawaiian governing entity. Plaintiffs were not likely to be deprived of any constitutional rights, and granting injunction would potentially affect approximately 100,000 people on nonprofit corporation's voter list who may want to participate in the process of self-determination. 141 F. Supp. 3d 1106 (2015).