Rice V. Cayetano: The Supreme Court Declines to Extend Federal Indian Law Principles to Native Hawaiians Sovereign Rights

12 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2018

See all articles by Jeanette Wolfley

Jeanette Wolfley

University of New Mexico - School of Law

Date Written: 2002

Abstract

As I read and reread the Rice decision, I realized how similar it is to the trend in the recent Indian law cases decided by the Supreme Court. For example, Rice, in many respects, represents the discomfort the Justices feel for upholding "special treatment" of Native Americans under the law. The Court in Rice reversed the Ninth Circuit's decision allowing the State of Hawaii to conduct a Natives-only election of trustees to administer a trust to benefit Native Hawaiians. It found that the Fifteenth Amendment, adopted after the Civil War to prevent states from denying the elective franchise to former slaves, prevented Hawaii's attempt to address a perceived history of injustice toward its Native peoples.

Suggested Citation

Wolfley, Jeanette, Rice V. Cayetano: The Supreme Court Declines to Extend Federal Indian Law Principles to Native Hawaiians Sovereign Rights (2002). Asian-Pacific Law & Policy, Journal Vol. 3, No. 2, 2002, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3100426

Jeanette Wolfley (Contact Author)

University of New Mexico - School of Law ( email )

1117 Stanford, N.E.
Albuquerque, NM 87131
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
17
Abstract Views
260
PlumX Metrics