Honolulu Advertiser: ‘More join ceded lands fight’
Honolulu Advertiser reporter Gordon Pang mentions EJS and JACL in his roundup of amicus briefs filed with the Supreme Court in the case involving lands held in trust for Native Hawaiians.
Because the U.S. has admitted that the 1893 overthrow was illegal, “the ceded lands hold unique cultural, spiritual and political significance for the Native Hawaiian people — they are not fungible or replaceable,” said the brief filed on behalf of the Equal Justice Society and Japanese American Citizens League.
Read the announcement of our brief here.
Eva Paterson: ABC7 Story on Ledbetter Act
Eva Paterson is included in a story by ABC7’s Mark Matthews on President Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which will make it easier for people to get the pay they deserve — regardless of their gender, race, or age. The Act was introduced by Bay Area Congressman George Miller.
Civil Rights Organizations File Brief in Lawsuit Over Lands Held in Trust for Native Hawaiians
EJS and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) today filed a legal brief (download PDF here) with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that will determine whether the State of Hawai‘i can fulfill its constitutional responsibility as trustee of lands meant to serve Hawai‘i’s indigenous people.
The case, State of Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, revolves around attempts by the Hawai‘i state government to sell land that by the state constitution and federal law must be managed and used partly for the benefit of Native Hawaiians.
At the heart of the case is the State’s longstanding commitment to reconciliation with its Native peoples for historic injustice and continuing modern-day harms. Integral to that commitment is a process for the partial return of certain Hawaiian lands to a representative of the Native Hawaiian people.
The case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court because the Hawai‘i state Supreme Court ruled against the state government’s intended sale of the lands in question and the state government is appealing that decision.
The brief says that the U.S. Supreme Court should affirm the state supreme court’s decision because the dispute over the lands is a state matter and is rooted in the State’s reconciliation commitment to Native Hawaiians.
“The governor’s attempted sale of ceded lands undermines the will of the Hawai‘i citizenry and its policymakers,” said brief co-author Eric Yamamoto, a professor of law at the University of Hawai‘i and a board member of the Equal Justice Society. “And by reneging on a key aspect of the State’s reconciliation commitment, the attempted sale would breach the State’s trust obligation to hold those unique lands until the Hawaiian peoples’ unrelinquished claims are mutually resolved.”
Eva Paterson at Equality Summit in LA
Eva Paterson spoke this past weekend on Jan. 24 in L.A. at the Equality Summit, an Equality California-sponsored gathering of community leaders committed to winning back marriage equality in California to network, share information and resources, and plan next steps.
In addition to the videos of Eva’s presentation above, you can see other videos and recaps on the EQ blog.
Some other blog posts on the summit at queerty.com, calitics.com and rootsofequality.org.
President Appoints Tony West as Asst. Attorney General, Civil Division
President Barack Obama yesterday announced his nomination of Morrison & Foerster partner Tony West to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.
“I am grateful to have these distinguished individuals joining my administration, and I have the greatest confidence that their service will meet the highest standards of this department,” said President Obama. “The American people deserve to have faith that their Justice Department will keep them safe and uphold our most basic rights. This group has the depth of experience and integrity necessary to accomplish these goals.”
“Tony has been an outstanding leader in the firm,” said Steven M. Kaufmann, the Chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Litigation Department in a statement. “He is a tremendous trial lawyer, mentor, and colleague. We will miss Tony as our partner, but are proud that he will bring the skill, values, and dedication that he demonstrated at Morrison & Foerster to the service of the American people. The Justice Department gains a tireless public servant and talented lawyer.”
Tony has been a longtime supporter of the Equal Justice Society. In 2006, he hosted at MoFo and emceed a packed gathering of summer law firm associates to introduce them to the Rollback Campaign. EJS organized and promoted the event.
All of us at EJS congratulate Tony on his appointment and wish him the best at DOJ.
Eva Paterson on NPR This Morning
EJS President Eva Paterson is scheduled to be on NPR’s “News & Notes” program today at approximately 1:05 p.m. ET/10:05 a.m. PT. You can listen online at npr.org.
Eva will be sharing her thoughts on the Obama Administration and civil rights – and how the movement of the ’50s and ’60s might have some lessons for us today.
We’ll post a link to the audio archive as soon as that’s available.
UPDATE: The NPR page is here. Audio expected around 1 p.m. Pacific.
Asian America Must Battle Injustice with President Obama
I originally wrote this for ningin.com, a site covering Asian media and pop culture.
A Black man born in Hawai’i with an Asian sister was sworn into office Tuesday as our President. He took the oath of office on the same bible used by Abraham Lincoln for the exact same oath 148 years ago, realizing the dreams of countless African Americans and others who previously never imagined this moment.
President Barack Obama now leads our country into uncertain and troubled times. But he begins work on our nation’s ills with unprecedented numbers of Asian Americans in substantive roles in this Administration.
Japanese American Peter Rouse is White House Senior Adviser. Chinese American Chris Lu is Cabinet Secretary. Former Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki is Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Nobel prize winner Steven Chu is Secretary of Energy.
We now have a First Family that includes Asian Americans. The President’s sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, is half Indonesian. Her husband Konrad is Chinese American. Their daughter Suhaila is hapa.
This roster of Asian names is significant because the halls and backrooms of power in our nation’s capitol have for too long been dominated by monochromatic men. It does not mean we have arrived. It means we’ve only just begun.
