Ohana Ho`opakele Press Release: Ohana Ho`opakele files Appeal in the Intermediate Court of Appeals in Opposition to Judgment allowing Kulani to Reopen as a Prison!
PRESS RELEASE
Ohana Ho`opakele files Appeal in the Intermediate Court of Appeals in Opposition to Judgment allowing Kulani to Reopen as a Prison!
President Palikapu Dedman announced, “Ohana Ho`opakele’s appeal will have an impact not only on whether the first modern Pu`uhonua will be built at Kulani but also on the future standards of Environmental Assessments (EAs) related to native Hawaiian issues. Activists for Hawaiian rights and scholars will find this legal brief of interest to them.”
Attorneys for Ohana Ho`opakele led by Mr. James M. Dombroski of Petaluma, CA filed their opening brief in the Intermediate Court of Appeals on Wednesday, April 8, 2015 electronically at 11:27 AM. (A filed copy of the opening brief can be found online at http://puna.us/pdf/OB.pdf.) A Final Judgment in Favor of State Defendants and Against Ohana Ho`opakele was entered in the Third Circuit Court on November 14, 2014 by Judge Glenn S. Hara. Appealing this verdict Plaintiffs-Appellants were Ohana Ho`opakele, Ralph Palikapu Dedman, Ronald S. Fujiyoshi, James Albertini, Luella Nohea Crutcher, Samuel Kaleleiki Jr. (deceased), Van Keoki Kahumoku and Cedric Ali`i Kai Ah Sing.
The argument summarized in the 80-page appeal is as follows:
In Act 117, the Legislature found that a pu`uhonua would help the community, in particular native Hawaiians, by providing culturally-based substance abuse treatment and intervention, and further found Kulani “would be an ideal site for such a wellness center.”
The Act’s purpose was to “create a wellness center that reestablishes highly recognized native Hawaiian cultural practices….” Act 117 directed PSD to work “in cooperation with Ohana Ho‘opakele and other restorative justice groups to prepare a plan for the creation of a pu`uhonua, or wellness center … provided that the site formerly used as the Kulani correctional facility on the island of Hawaii shall be given preference….”
PSD reactivated the Kulani Correctional Facility without satisfying the substantive legal requirement of Act 117 to prepare a plan for creation of a pu`uhonua in cooperation with Ohana Ho`opakele. The environmental review process (1) did not include the Ohana or its members as consulted parties, (2) did not include consideration of a pu`uhonua as an alternative to the proposed reactivation of Kulani as a minimum security prison and (3) ignored potential impacts on endangered species that are presumed to be significant.
For more information on Ohana Ho`opakele, see www.ohanahoopakele.org or contact ohanahoopakele@gmail.com. Telephone contact is Mr. Palikapu Dedman at 808-959-4930 or Ronald Fujiyoshi at 808-959-9775.
