(1) Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Saturday, June 14, 2003
http://starbulletin.com/2003/06/14/news/story3.html
Hawaiian program suit sees new delay
An attorney's illness forces a three-month hearing postponement
By Pat Omandam
A Monday hearing on a federal lawsuit that could end state programs for native Hawaiians was delayed until early September because one of the attorneys who filed the suit suffered a heart attack.
But H. William Burgess, co-counsel on the case alleging racial discrimination, strongly objected to the decision to delay the proceeding. Burgess said he is ready to argue the case alone and said the plaintiffs he has spoken with want to continue now. He added there have been enough delays in this lawsuit. "It's very unsatisfactory," Burgess said.
U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway held a telephone conference call yesterday with attorneys involved in the Arakaki vs. Lingle case to tell them she was postponing the oral arguments to dismiss the case until Sept. 8 to give plaintiffs' attorney Patrick Hanifin time to recover from heart surgery.
Hanifin, 48, was at work early yesterday morning when he suffered a heart attack, said Burgess.
Burgess said Hanifin drove himself to Queen's Hospital, where he underwent successful open heart surgery. He was told Hanifin is expected to make a full recovery.
The three-month delay means the case could be affected by the outcome of a federal recognition bill for native Hawaiians. The so-called Akaka bill is pending before the U.S. Senate, and action could be taken on it before the Sept. 8 hearing.
Attorney Sherry Broder, who is defending the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said passage of the Akaka bill would bolster defense arguments against the case.
Broder said yesterday that defendants were ready to argue the case. She explained Mollway wanted to give the 16 plaintiffs the opportunity to be represented by both of their counsels.
Burgess and Hanifin represent a group of multiethnic Hawaii residents, including those of Hawaiian ancestry, who believe OHA and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands programs are unconstitutional because they are race-based and discriminate against non-Hawaiians. They are asking the courts to end these programs.
Their March 2002 lawsuit is the latest since the Rice vs. Cayetano ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. The February 2000 high court ruling opened up OHA's Hawaiians-only elections to voters of all ethnicities. A subsequent case in U.S. District Court opened OHA board elections to non-Hawaiian candidates.
On Monday, OHA, Hawaiian homestead and state attorneys were expected to ask Mollway to throw out the Arakaki lawsuit because the challenge to DHHL is more a political than judicial issue. They also contend Congress and state government have recognized the claims of native Hawaiians by providing general funds to OHA as part of the ongoing reconciliation.
Meanwhile, the Arakaki lawsuit and the Akaka bill continue to draw interest from the Hawaiian community. More than 500 people attended workshops in Waianae, Waimanalo and Papakolea last week to learn about these issues.
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(2) Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Tuesday, June 17, 2003
http://starbulletin.com/2003/06/17/news/story6.html
PATRICK HANIFIN / 1955-2003
Attorney prized racial equality
By Pat Omandam
Attorney Patrick W. Hanifin was a true renaissance man who took on unpopular and controversial issues such as the legality of government programs for native Hawaiian because he believed in equality under the law, colleagues say.
"He believed deeply that everyone, including Hawaiians, are best off when people are judged one by one, rather than by their race, and when government doesn't try to make distinction among various people based on race," said Chris Parsons, who along with Hanifin and Kyong-su Im were partners the law firm Im Hanifin Parsons.
Hanifin, 48, a Honolulu native and Saint Louis School graduate, died Saturday in Queen's Medical Center while recovering from heart surgery after suffering a heart attack on Friday.
Hanifin was co-counsel with attorney H. William Burgess on a federal court case that alleges the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands are race-based and discriminate against Hawaiians.
Motions to dismiss the case that were scheduled to be heard yesterday were postponed until September following Hanifin's heart attack. Burgess said he is ready to argue the case himself.
"He's one of the most brilliant people I've ever met, and it was an honor to know him and work closely with him," Burgess said yesterday.
A litigator with extensive experience in state and federal courts and administrative proceedings, the 1980 Harvard Law School and Notre Dame graduate spent four years practicing law in Hawaii before he returned to New England to earn a master's degree in public policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
He then practiced law in Massachusetts before returning to the islands in 1995, where he joined Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright and gained experience in environmental law, land use and water rights, first amendment and other fields.
He also taught at the William S. Richardson School of Law.
Hanifin is noted for being the plaintiff's attorney in three cases that challenged government programs for native Hawaiians, including the case with Burgess.
In August 2000, Hanifin won a federal court case that allowed non-Hawaiians to run as candidates for the OHA. The ruling followed a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in February 2000 that declared OHA's Hawaiians-only voter requirement illegal.
Kenneth Conklin, who was the first non-Hawaiian to file as a candidate for OHA following that ruling, said yesterday that Hanifin was an expert in law, history, philosophy, economics and political science.
Conklin said Hanifin has been interested in Hawaiian history and sovereignty issues for more than 20 years and had published several legal papers on the subject.
"Pat was a warrior fighting for the unity of Hawaii's people under a single sovereignty, and for equality under the law," he said.
Hanifin also represented Moiliili resident Patrick Barrett, who challenged the constitutionality of OHA, the Hawaiian Homes Commission and native gathering rights. A federal judge in August 2001 ruled Barrett had no standing to bring his case.
Attorney Sherry Broder, who, as OHA's legal counsel often found herself in court arguments against Hanifin said, "He was always a gentleman."
Hanifin is survived by two sisters, Theresa Wong and Kayla Boulton.
Services will be at 6:30 p.m. June 26 at St. Andrew's Cathedral. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Kapolei.
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(3) The Honolulu Advertiser, Tuesday, June 17, 2003
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jun/17/ln/ln41a.html
[This newspaper article included a small black-and-white photograph of Patrick Hanifin. However, the newspaper’s website edition included the following beautiful photograph, probably taken on the steps of the U.S. District Court in Honolulu on September 19, 2000 immediately following the hearing when Judge Gillmor granted the permanent injunction in Arakaki I, abolishing racial restrictions on candidacy for trustee of Office of Hawaiian Affairs.]
Patrick Hanifin, 48, fought entitlements
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Honolulu attorney Patrick W. Hanifin, one of the key legal advisers behind federal lawsuits challenging Hawaiian entitlements, died Saturday after complications during heart surgery. He was 48.
Patrick Hanifin worked for plaintiffs who challenged the validity of Native Hawaiian programs.
Hanifin was born May 7, 1955 in Honolulu, at the same hospital where he died, The Queen's Medical Center, said his younger sister, Teresa Hanifin Wong.
He was a graduate of Saint Louis High School (Class of 1973), the University of Notre Dame (1977, magna cum laude), Harvard Law School (cum laude, 1980) and the John F. Kennedy School of Government (1986).
He worked at two local law firms before becoming a partner of Im Hanifin Parsons in 2000, his sister said.
Hanifin represented 13 Hawai'i residents who in 2000 successfully sued to stop the state from banning non-Hawaiians from running for seats on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
He then worked for plaintiffs who challenged the validity of Native Hawaiian programs.
In March 2002, those plaintiffs filed suit against OHA and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands claiming they were unconstitutional race-based programs that discriminate against non-Hawaiians.
U.S. District Judge Susan Mollway removed the United States as a defendant in the lawsuit in September, finding that the plaintiffs had legal standing as state taxpayers and could only challenge state money for the programs.
At the center of the conflict, though, is who ultimately will control 1.4 million acres of former crown and government land returned to Hawai'i from the federal government when it became a state in 1959.
H. William Burgess worked with Hanifin on the case, which was to have been heard in federal court yesterday. Mollway postponed the case until Sept. 8 after hearing Friday that Hanifin had driven himself to the hospital with chest pains, Burgess said.
"He is one of the most brilliant lawyers I have ever met, but I don't think it will have any affect on the suit," Burgess said. "We will forge on. The suit, on the merits, is exactly the same."
Kenneth Conklin was one of the 13 who sued in 2000. He called Hanifin "a fallen warrior" who believed in equality for all. His death leaves "a big hole" in the movement against entitlements, Conklin said.
"The movement is larger than any one person but he knew all the issues," Conklin said. "He had a grasp of the big picture and the ability to argue the small details with great eloquence and persuasiveness."
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(4) The Honolulu Advertiser, Letters To The Editor, Sunday June 22, 2003
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jun/22/op/op40a.html
Hanifin believed in equality for all people
Mahalo for Mike Gordon's June 17 article on attorney Patrick Hanifin's untimely passing. Pat was a friend and colleague who personified the best traditions of his profession.
If he could, though, I think he would gently object to the article's characterization of his advocacy on Hawaiian issues. The article refers to Pat's support for those who were "challenging Hawaiian entitlements," his work for plaintiffs who "challenged the validity of Native Hawaiian programs" and his role in a suit "against OHA and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands." The implication, perhaps unintended, is that he was a quarrelsome spoiler who sought to deprive Hawaiians of important government benefits.
Pat had a nobler character and purpose. He truly believed in the Constitution and its goals of equal rights for all, without regard to race or ancestry. He was not against Hawaiians or opposed to necessary assistance for anyone. He argued for the best sort of government; for equality of political, economic and social opportunity for all the state's citizens, and for equal access to government support for those in need.
His advocacy for these objectives was positive, constructive and high-minded. For these excellent qualities and so many others, he will be remembered and missed.
Paul M. Sullivan
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(5) UH Law School webpage memorial, taken from
http://www.hawaii.edu/elp/brochure/hanifin.htm
| Environmental
Law Program |
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In MemoriumPatrick W. Hanifin1955-2003
Patrick Hanifin was well known as a zealous advocate who worked tirelessly on behalf of his clients and at the law school as a professor who cared deeply about student learning. Law students who were fortunate to take his Environmental Compliance Class had kind words to say about him: Prof. Hanifin had the ability to take rather dry regulated industry topics and put a spin on case-study scenarios to keep even the most sleep deprived students interested and awake in class. A local version of the "Big Island Blind Cave Spider," as well as fishponds seemed to be focal points of many of his classroom examples. During the spring semester of 2002, Prof. Hanifin asked the class to meet at the pier 34 parking lot in order to help get a better understanding of the EIS process by observing an environmental engineering firm drill holes and take core samples, and discussing with the team engineer the process and scope of work. Arriving at the pier at around 0630, I found Prof. Hanifin standing by the drill truck in the pouring rain, umbrella in hand, watching the progress and waiting for his students to show up. It poured the entire time I was there, but he continued to wait patiently, soaked to the bone, for his students to slowly make their way to the pier for a quick look at the holes in the concrete. Needless to say, I'll never forget that morning, nor the mechanics of core sampling involved with remediation and environmental compliance! Scott Mowery
Professor Hanifin challenged the challenged the students in his Environmental
Compliance course to think Della Au Belatti In retrospect, it’s not strange at all that Patrick Hanifin, an accomplished private practitioner, decided to teach Environmental Compliance and Regulated Industries at WSRSL, in the fall semester of 2001. Most of us in that small class probably recall being very impressed at our first meeting that our professor, obviously highly intelligent, very capable and extremely busy, had spent so much time on lesson plans and on acquiring just the right textbook, which he personally subsidized for us typically-cash-poor students. His classes were engaging, and throughout the course Pat had a delightful sense of humor and obviously enjoyed the wildly divergent, and often wildly expressed, views that spilled from our little group. After the course, and after I had graduated, Pat and I ran into one another a few times. Pat, busy as ever, was still enthusiastic about teaching his next course. In the spring of 2003, after I began working for a local law firm, I was lucky enough to be assigned to an exciting but emotionally-charged case, in which Pat was opposing counsel. I wasn’t sure that anyone in Pat’s position—even Pat—would be cordial to a person in my position, but within a couple of days after my name appeared on the bottom of a caption on a filing, Pat, in his typical good humor, sent me an e-mail welcoming me to the case, and asking me to lunch. A few days later, we met for lunch and talked about Pat’s plans for his next course. I vividly remember Pat talking enthusiastically then about how much he valued the divergent opinions and discourse in his class. The next time I heard anything about Pat was the day the court called for a status conference on our mutual case, continuing a hearing because Pat was in the hospital. Next thing we knew, he was gone. At the next hearing, it wasn’t surprising that the judge commented, at great length, on Pat’s contributions to the legal community and to his contributions to the benefit of both sides in the case. Pat was one of the most impressive gentlemen I have ever known. He was
a tolerant, kind and gentle intellectual with a passion for learning and
teaching far out of proportion to the too-few years he spent on this earth.
================================
** Personal note from Ken Conklin **
Patrick and I were close intellectual friends. Although we rarely saw each other face to face, we exchanged hundreds of e-mails during a period of about 4 years, discussing Hawaiian history, Hawaiian sovereignty, epistemology (a branch of philosophy dealing with where knowledge comes from and how we know whether we have knowledge or error), and broader legal and moral issues such as the concept of indigeneity, group rights, and globalization of trade and culture. We appeared together on one of Bob Rees' TV shows, plus two hour-long Rees radio shows where we sparred with Hayden Burgess, alias Poka Laenui. Patrick was also co-counsel with H. William Burgess in the Arakaki #1 lawsuit at the 9th Circuit Court regarding removal of racial restrictions on candidacy for OHA trustee, in which I was a plaintiff and also candidate for trustee; so we exchanged numerous e-mails about that case.
On Friday June 13, as Patrick Hanifin lay in Queens Hospital waiting for surgery, I decided to send him a "get well" e-mail to cheer him up during his expected recovery. I wrote a fake "news report" about his heart attack and how it might have been caused by his Hawaiian sovereignty political opponents trying to pray him to death. He never saw this item. As soon as I heard he had died, I felt bad if any relatives would read this in his e-mail account while grieving for him. But at the time it seemed like a really good joke which Patrick would have loved because of the topics he and I had discussed in so many e-mails. N.B.: I live in an apartment in Kane'ohe.
*** Pat, you're in our prayers. But I've been wondering, were you also in someone else's prayers? Here's a news report I found while surfing the internet. ***
KAWAIHAE, HI (nuhou 'oiwi) Midnight Friday morning, June 13.
The sounds of the nightmarchers could be heard as they passed near the caves.
A century ago archeologist David Forbes had removed ali'i bones from these caves, together with some artifacts said to be sacred. Decades later the bones were returned.
In February 2000 some of the artifacts were also returned. Two men who had handled some of the artifacts died soon thereafter under mysterious circumstances. Later it was reported that modern-day kahuna skilled in the ancient art of 'ana'ana had prayed them to death to restore pono because of their sacrilegious handling of the artifacts. The caves at Kawaihae have now become home to monthly night-time meetings where kahuna get trained.
And now, under the flickering torchlight as the nightmarchers pass by, the sound of chanting can be heard from inside the caves. Kahuna 'ana'ana once again invoke the ancient gods, praying to stop the heart of attorney Patrick Hanifin, who dares to challenge Hawaiians-only programs. The chanting grows louder. The torches burn brighter.
Meanwhile in far away Honolulu Patrick Hanifin sits at his office desk "burning the midnight torches" while reviewing legal arguments for his Monday courtroom appearance. His office lights begin to flicker in resonance with the torches at Kawaihae. Suddenly he feels tremendous pain in his chest, and rushes to the hospital. Doctors open his chest and repair his aorta, noting that the damage almost looks like fingernails had clawed it.
Recovering from surgery Patrick Hanifin is heard to say, "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." And now from a small concrete cave in Kane'ohe can be heard more chanting, directing the death prayer back to whence it came.
=============
** The following article is copied by typing it directly from Pacific Business News print edition of November 11, 2005. Although PBN publishes many of its article on its website, this article was never placed there and has no URL **
From Pacific Businsess News, Vol. 43, No. 36
Family sues Queen's Medical Center over attorney's death
The family of a lawyer who died more than two years
ago has filed a
malpractice lawsuit against The Queen's Medical
Center, claiming that an
inadequately staffed emergency room contributed to his
death.
Patrick Hanifin's estate is seeking unspecified
damages from the hospital
over what was described in the seven-page lawsuit as
"negligence."
The lawsuit also targets physician Robert Kulani
Childs, who is accused of
failing to "timely diagnose" Hanifin's condition.
Monica Ivey, a spokeswoman for The Queen's Medical
Center, said the hospital
has no comment on the lawsuit.
A former partner in the firm Im Hanifin Parsons,
Hanifin died at the
hospital while recovering from heart surgery after
suffering a heart attack.
According to the lawsuit filed by his estate in 1st
Circuit Court on Oct.
27, Hanifin had driven himself to The Queen's Medical
Center emergency room
at about 1 a.m. on June 13, 2003, after suffering
chest pains.
The lawsuit claims that he was admitted to the
emergency department, but the
on-call surgeon, Collin Dang, was unavailable. Dang
was performing a
surgery at St. Francis Hospital, according to the
lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that another surgeon, Jeffrey Lau,
already had a surgery
scheduled that morning and agreed to perform surgery
on Hanifin after he was
finished with his other patient.
According to the lawsuit, Childs was supposed to
provide the anesthesia.
But the lawsuit said that Childs couldn't be found
after Hanifin was
prepared for surgery, which delayed the operation by
nearly three hours.
"The hospital failed to provide adequate staffing and
equipment appropriate
and necessary for a major trauma center," said
attorney Charles J. Ferrera,
who is representing Hanifin's estate.
Ferrera also said that the hospital failed to properly
page or alert Childs
or even take other steps to find Childs.
"The hospital's conduct resulted in surgery being
delayed," Ferrera said.
================================
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