U.S. Supreme Court

During an hour-long hearing on the Maui Clean Water Act case, the U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed to be seeking a legal path to keep polluters from skirting the law without ensnaring ordinary homeowners. 

The Maui County Council voted 5-4 on Friday to settle a Clean Water Act lawsuit headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But a last-minute revelation from county attorneys has set up a showdown between councilmembers and Mayor Michael Victorino.

A federal court ruled Valley Isle wastewater treatment plants violate the Clean Water Act. The island’s mayor wants to challenge the ruling at the Supreme Court, but lawmakers want to settle. A decision may come down to a Maui County Council vote today. 

A majority of the Supreme Court of the United States decided that it was not the court’s responsibility to overturn voting districts drawn with the intent of advantaging one party or another. Partisan redistricting, gerrymandering as its commonly known, has been a feature of American politics practically since the founding of the country.

This week the nation's highest court announced it would hear a case concerning the discharge from a wastewater treatment plant in Lahaina. The case has potentially huge impacts for water pollution rules nationwide. At the center of the debate is how to regulate treated wastewater being injected underground.

Law School Screens Kavanaugh Hearing; Digital Divide; Hawaii's Wood Show

As Christine Blasey-Ford gave an emotional recounting of a teenage sexual assault and Brett Kavanaugh gave a fiery denial, law students from the University of Hawaii’s Richardson School of Law had assembled to watch the entire proceeding live.

The screening had been arranged by the law school's Associate Deans. During breaks in the hearing, Professor Linda Krieger led an ad hoc discussion of what students were watching.

  A high stakes battle playing out in our nation’s capital.  Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono sits on the committee that is holding the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Today marks the fourth and final day of the very contentious proceedings and following a line of questioning about the nominee’s emails that shed some light on his thinking about race and in particular issues that affect our island state.

Supreme Court Nominee; West Maui Hospital; Historic Kaka’ako Building; Sierra Club Anniversary

Impact of Supreme Court Ruling on Unions; CBD Treatment for Seizures; Saving Maui’s Silverswords; Strategy 360

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in Hawai’i’s challenge to President Trump’s latest travel ban. HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports.