Carroll v. Nakatani

OPINION

HUG, Circuit Judge.

This case stems from the Supreme Court’s recent decision, Rice v. Cayetano, holding that the ancestry classification “Hawaiian,” as provided in Article XII of the Hawaiian State Constitution, is race-based. 528 U.S. 495, 514-15, 120 S.Ct. 1044, 145 L.Ed.2d 1007 (2000). In Rice, the Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling that limiting voter eligibility to elect the trustees to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a state agency, to “Hawaiians” violated the Fifteenth Amendment. Id. at 517, 120 S.Ct. 1044. The Rice Court expressly assumed, but did not decide, the validity of…