Category Archives: Legal News

Impeachment Resources

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By Catherine Bye, Technical Services/Acquisitions Librarian

According to the 5th edition (1979) Black’s Law Dictionary, impeachment is “a criminal proceeding against a public officer, before a quasi-political court, instituted by a written accusation called “articles of impeachment.”

Recently, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, announced that the House of Representatives will be moving forward with articles of impeachment. The impeachment activity stemmed from the whistle blower complaint concerning the call with Ukraine, which came to light in the summer.

Kelly Smith, a U.S. and San Diego Government Information Librarian at the University of California, San Diego, has created and updates a LibGuide, “U.S. Government Information: Whistleblower,” that tracks and compiles the official documents, tweets, press releases, and other information related to the whistleblower complaint and continues through to the impeachment proceedings. The earliest item listed in this LibGuide dates back to February 12, 2016 with a Press Release relating to a letter written by three U.S. Senators to then-Ukrainian President Poroshenko reaffirming commitment to help Ukraine take on corruption. The most recent posting is from December 9, 2019 relating to Representatives Nadler’s opening statement at the House Judiciary Committee hearing.

The Library of Congress is also maintaining the “Constitution Annotated” website, which provides online access to the “Constitution of the United States of America:  Analysis and Interpretation”.  It offers a comprehensive overview of how the Constitution has been interpreted over time.

Check it out! (Whistleblower LibGuide used with permission from Kelly Smith.)

New Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Decision on ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i

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By Roberta Freeland Woods, J.D., M.L.I.Sc.

The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court handed down an opinion by Justice Pollack on Tuesday, August 13, that held that article X, section 4 of the Hawaiʻi Constitution, the Hawaiian education provision requires the State to “to institute a program that is reasonably calculated to revive the Hawaiian language.” Chief Justice Recktenwald wrote a concurring opinion and Justice Nakayama wrote a concurring and dissenting opinion.

Article X, section 4 came into existence with the 1978 Constitutional Convention. Justice Pollack reviewed the history of  ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i and Hawaiian education in the 49-page opinion stating that Hawaiian language schools were widely available until the overthrow in 1893. Three years later, the Republic of Hawaiʻi enacted legislation mandating that only English be taught in schools, a law that was specifically intended to eradicate knowledge of ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i in future generations.

The facts of the case involve a Native Hawaiian mother of two daughters on Lāna‘i. The public schools on Lāna‘i do not offer an immersion program, but a K-12 immersion program is offered on five of the major Hawaiian Islands: O‘ahu, Maui, Hawai‘i Island, Moloka‘i, and Kaua‘i. Prior to moving to Lāna‘i the two daughters had been enrolled in the Kaiapuni Educational Program, an ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i immersion program at Pā‘ia Elementary School on the island of Maui. Both children were only able to read and write in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i when they began attending Lāna‘i School. Adequate instruction in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i was not provided partly because the Department of Education has been unable to attract qualified teachers to live on Lāna‘i.

Read the majority opinion in Clarabal ex rel. C.M.K.C. v. Department of Education, SCAP-16-0000475, on the Judiciary website at https://www.courts.state.hi.us/opinions_and_orders/opinions.