Kaho'olawe trespass court - sovereignty is a nonjusdiciable political question

In July of 2006 Nelson Armitage, Russell Kahookele and Henry Noa traveled to Kaho'olawe to exercise and reclaim property rights in the island for the Reinstated Kingdom of Hawaii. Under state law entry onto the island or into its waters requires a permit (The island had served as a bombing range for approximately fifty years and the state restricts access to protect against the dangers that may still exist there). The three intentionally declined to comply with the permit requirements and were charged with violating the statute.

The defendants filed a motion to dismissed based in part on HRS § 6K-9 which provides that upon recognition by the federal government and the state, the management and control of the island shall be transferred by the state to the sovereign native Hawaiian entity.

The defendants put on an expert witness in order to establish that the Reinstated Kingdom is a sovereign native Hawaiian entity and asked the court to recognize the Kingdom as such and, further, to provide standards or guidelines to resolve their attempt to be recognized. The court, however, ruled not only that the defendants had failed to prove the contention, but also that the issue was a nonjusdiciable political question and that "the court lacks authority to make such a determination" -

An action by this Court would, in turn, direct Congress and the State Legislature to recognize the Reinstated Nation of Hawaii as the native Hawaiian sovereign entity, and this Court cannot act where Congress and the State Legislature must.

Attorney for the defendants, Dan Hempey, was not surprised by the court's holding that it does not have the authority to recognize a sovereign entity for purposes of 6K-9, but he expressed frustration that the court nevertheless went ahead to made the determination that his clients had failed to prove that the Reinstated Kingdom was such an entity.

In what Dan describes as emotional testimony, Henry Noa complained that the state legislature's promise of sovereignty, but subsequent inaction leaves no place to turn but to the courts.