The lawsuit was filed in the First Circuit Court in Honolulu in April 2016, and listed the Director of Public Safety, the Warden for Halawa Correctional Facility, and 25 unnamed Halawa officials as defendants.

The allegations made by the plaintiff are similar to those asserted in an ongoing federal class-action lawsuit, Davis v. Abercrombie, 2017 WL 2234175, filed by a group of Native Hawaiian prisoners housed at the Saguaro Correctional Center or Red Rock Correctional Center, both Arizona prisons. The plaintiff in the present case is represented by Sharla Ann Manley of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, the lead attorney in Davis v. Abercrombie.


According to this lawsuit, the plaintiff was not allowed to gather with other Native Hawaiian religious practitioners to "dance, chant, or pray" together or to observe the annual season of Makahiki, a four-month period dedicated to the Hawaiian god Lono. The plaintiff also alleged that he was denied access to sacred items — such as native garments, a tree stump drum, woven floor mats, and an outdoor altar — necessary for practicing his religion.

The docket is available on the Hawai'i State Judiciary's website, but the court documents are not publicly accessible so there is limited information about the case.

On Dec. 1, 2017, the plaintiff moved for class-action certification. As of January 2018, the case is ongoing.

Elizabeth Greiter - 01/13/2018


compress summary