Lawsuit Challenges Hawaii Homestead Leases Limited to 50% Hawaiian Blood Quantum
A lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Honolulu challenges the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which limits 99-year leases for $1 a year to applicants with at least 50% Hawaiian ancestry. The suit argues the eligibility rule violates the Constitution.
Abc NewsA lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Honolulu challenges the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act's requirement that applicants prove at least 50% Hawaiian ancestry to qualify for residential or agricultural leases. The Pacific Legal Foundation brought the case on behalf of plaintiff Eric Ryan, a lifelong Hawaii resident who was denied pre-qualification after answering "no" to the blood-quantum question.
The final eligibility threshold of 50% Hawaiian blood was a compromise after plantation owners pushed for a stricter full-blood rule. Under the program, qualified applicants receive 99-year leases for $1 annually on roughly 200,000 acres of trust land.
About 29,000 people currently wait for residential or agricultural parcels.
The Pacific Legal Foundation argues the classification is unconstitutional and seeks to open the program to all residents regardless of ancestry. She noted Hawaiians lack a federally recognized tribal government yet maintain self-governance on homestead lands.
Hawaii's governor and attorney general said they will defend the eligibility criteria. The U.S. Department of the Interior and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands declined to comment on the litigation. A separate lawsuit by Students for Fair Admissions challenges admissions preferences at Kamehameha Schools, a private system that favors Native Hawaiian applicants.
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