Political History and Constitution of Hawaii

Political History and Constitution of Hawaii

• The monarchical government of the Hawaiian Islands was established in 1810 by His Majesty King Kamehameha I

• The Declaration of Rights of 1839 recognized three classes of persons having vested rights in the lands

• 1st the Government

• King Kamehameha I ruled the Hawaiian Islands from April 1810 until his death in May 1819

• 2nd the Chiefs

• 3rd the native Tenants

• Upon the death of King Kamehameha I, his son King Kamehameha II was successor to the throne and ruled the Hawaiian Islands from May 8, 1819 to July 1824

• It declared protection of these rights to both the Chiefly and native Tenant classes

• His Majesty King Kamehameha III, the second son of His Majesty King Kamehameha I, was successor to the throne upon the death of Kamehameha II in July 1824

The main 8 islands are Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and the Big Island of Hawaii.

• These rights were not limited to the land, but included the right to life, limb, liberty and freedom from oppression; the earnings of his hands and the productions of his mind, not however to those who act in violation of the laws.

Hawaii is located roughly 2471 miles offshore of the United States

"The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness."

• Population in 2013 was 1,374,810

• 47th largest state (square area of 6,423 miles)

• The Hawaiian Kingdom was governed until 1838, without legal enactments, and was based upon a system of common law, which consisted partly of the ancient kapu and the practices of the celebrated Chiefs, that had been passed down by tradition since time immemorial. The Declaration of Rights, proposed and signed by His Majesty King Kamehameha III on June 7, 1839, was the first essential departure from the ancient ways.

• Hawaii is the 50th state and was added to the union on August 20th, 1959

• Barack Obama is from Hawaii

• On June 24, 1845, a Joint Resolution was enacted by the Legislature and signed into law.

• On July 7, 1864, a Convention was called for by His Majesty King Kamehameha V in order to draft a new constitution.

• on October 8, 1840, His Majesty King Kamehameha III voluntarily relinquished his absolute powers and attributes, by enacting a constitution that recognized three grand divisions of a civilized monarchy

• To counter the strong possibility of foreign encroachment on Hawaiian territory, His Majesty King Kamehameha III dispatched a Hawaiian delegation to the United States and Europe with the power to settle difficulties with other nations

• Since the Organic Acts of 1845-46, a Joint Resolution was passed by the Legislature and signed into law in 1856, calling upon Kamehameha and Chief Justice William L. Lee, to form a committee and prepare a complete Civil Code and to report the same for the sanction of the Legislature in 1858

• Between July 7 and August 8, 1864, each article in the proposed Constitution was read and discussed until they arrived at Article 62. Article 62 defined the qualification of voters for the House of Representatives.

• This brought forth the First Act of Kamehameha III to Organize the Executive Ministries, the Second Act of Kamehameha III to Organize the Executive Departments, and the Third Act of Kamehameha III to Organize the Judiciary Department. These Acts came to be known as the Organic Acts of 1845-46.

• On December 19, 1842, the Hawaiian delegation secured the assurance that the U.S, Great Britain and France would recognize Hawaiian independence.

• the King as the Chief Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. The Legislative Department of the Kingdom was composed of the King, the House of Nobles, and the House of Representatives

• On November 30, 1863, King Kamehameha IV passed away and left the Kingdom without a successor. On the same day, the Premier in Council proclaimed Lot Kapuaiwa the successor to the Throne

• After days of debate over this article, the Convention arrived at an absolute deadlock. The House of Representatives was not able to agree on this article. As a result, His Majesty King Kamehameha V, in exercising his sovereign prerogative by virtue of Article 45 of the constitution, dissolved the convention and proclaimed a new constitution on August 20, 1864

• On November 28, 1843, at the Court of London, the British and French Governments entered into a formal agreement for the recognition of Hawaiian independence. The Proclamation states

• On September 27, 1847, the Legislature passed a law calling upon Chief Justice William L. Lee to establish a Penal Code. In 1850, a Penal Code was submitted to the Legislature by Chief Justice Lee and signed into law by His Majesty King Kamehameha III.

• When His Majesty King Kamehameha V (pictured right) ascended to the throne, he had refused to take the oath of office until the Constitution was altered. This refusal was constitutionally authorized by Article 94 of the 1852 Constitution

• The King represented the vested right of the Government class, the House of Nobles represented the vested right of the Chiefly class, and the House of Representatives represented the vested rights of the Tenant class. The Government was established to protect and acknowledge the rights already declared by the 1839 Declaration of Rights.

The 1864 Constitution did not increase the authority of the Monarch, but rather limited the power of the Monarch formally held under the 1852 Constitution. Under what has been termed the Kamehameha Constitution of 1864, the Monarch was now required to take the oath of office and the sovereign prerogative was removed.

King Kamehameha explained at the opening of the Legislative Assembly of 1864, his aforementioned action of dissolving the Convention and proclaiming a new constitution. He stated that the forty-fifth article of the Constitution of 1852 reserved to the Sovereign the right to conduct personally with the Premier, but without the intervention of a Ministry or the approval of the Legislature.

One year later on December 15th, His Majesty King Kamehameha III passed away and Alexander Liholiho ascended to the office of Constitutional Monarch. He was thereafter called King Kamehameha IV

• "Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of the French, taking into consideration the existence in the Sandwich Islands of a government capable of providing for the regularity of its relations with foreign nations, have thought it right to engage, reciprocally, to consider the Sandwich Islands as an Independent State, and never to take possession, neither directly or under the title of Protectorate, or under any other form, of any part of the territory of which they are composed. The undersigned, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs, and the Ambassador Extraordinary of His Majesty the King of the French, at the Court of London, being furnished with the necessary powers, hereby declare, in consequence, that their said Majesties take reciprocally that engagement."

• The Constitution generally defined the duties of each branch of government. Civilly, the laws embraced the usual rights and duties of the social relations between the three classes of people, and initiated the internal development of the country with the promotion of industry and commerce

On April 6, 1853, Alexander Liholiho was named successor to the office of the Constitutional Monarch by His Majesty King Kamehameha III in accordance with Article 25 of the Constitution of 1852. Article 25 provides that the "...successor of the Throne shall be the person whom the King and the House of Nobles shall appoint and publicly proclaim as such, during the King's life

As a result of the recognition of Hawaiian Independence in 1843 the Hawaiian Kingdom entered into Treaties and Conventions with the nations of Austria, Belgium, Bremen, Denmark, France, Germany, Hamburg, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, New South Wales, Portugal, Russia, Samoa, the Swiss Confederation, Sweden, Norway, Tahiti, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

This provision implied a choice to take or not take the oath, which King Kamehameha V felt should be constitutionally altered. Another provision of the 1852 Constitution needing alteration was the sovereign prerogative provided in article 45 which stated that all important business of the Kingdom which the King chooses to transact in person, he may do, but not without the approbation of the Premier.

This sovereign allowed the Monarch the constitutional authority to alter or amend laws without Legislative approval. These anomalous provisions needed to be altered along with the instituting of voter qualifications for the House of Representatives. His Majesty King Kamehameha V, in Privy Council, resolved to look into the legal means of convening the first Constitutional Convention.

this sovereign prerogative was removed later from the 1864 Constitution, thereby preventing any future Monarch of the right to alter the constitution without the approval of two-thirds of all members of the Legislative Assembly. All articles of the constitution previously agreed upon in convention remained, except for the voter requirements for the House of Representatives. The property qualifications instituted in Articles 61 and 62 were repealed by the Legislature in 1874.

Article IV

(Reapportionment)

Article II

(Suffrage and Elections)

Article VII

(Taxation and Finance)

• Reapportionment Years (every tenth year after 1981)
• Reapportionment Commission
• Chief Election Officer
• Apportionment Among Basic Island Units
• Election of Senators after Reapportionment
• Congressional Redistricting for United States House of Representatives

• Qualifications (voting)
• Disqualifications (voting)
• Residence
• Campaign Fund, Spending Limit
• Campaign Contributions Limits
• Resignation from Public Office
• Election Dates
• Presidential Preference Primary
• Contested Elections

Hawaiian

Constitution

• Taxing Power Inalienable
• Income Taxation
• Expenditure Controls
• Disposition of Excess Revenues
• Council on Revenues
• The Budget
• Legislative Appropriations
• Auditor
• Debt Limit; Exclusions

Article I

(Bill of Rights)

• Once hawaii is annexed, it falls under U.S rules and laws

Article IX

(Public Health and welfare

• Political Power
• Rights of Individuals
• Equality of Rights
• Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly and Petition
• Due Process and Equal Protection
• Right to Privacy
• Searches, Seizures and Invasion of Privacy
• Rights of Citizens
• Supremacy of Civil Power

• On December 11, 1872, His Majesty King Kamehameha V passed away without naming a successor to the office of Constitutional Monarch

Article X

(Education)

• On January 16, 1893, United States diplomatic and military personnel conspired with a small group of individuals to overthrow the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom and prepared to provide for annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States of America

Article V

(The Executive)

• Public Health
• Care of Handicapped Persons
• Public Assistance
• Economic Security of the Elderly
• Housing, Slum Clearance, Development and Rehabilitation
• Management of State Population Growth
• Public Safety

• Public Education
• Board of Education/Power of the Board of Education
• Hawaiian Education Program

• On January 8, 1873, William Charles Lunalilo was elected as successor to the office of Constitutional Monarch. One year later on February 3rd, 1874, His Majesty King Lunalilo died without naming a successor

In 1887, while the Legislature remained out of session, a takeover was organized by a group known as the Honolulu rifles On July 1, 1887, these individuals threatened His Majesty King David Kalakaua with bodily harm if he did not accept a new Cabinet Council. On July 7, 1887, a new constitution was forced upon the King by the members of this new cabinet. This new constitution is known as the bayonet constitution of 1887 and did not obtain the consent of the Legislative Assembly who had remained adjourned since October 16, 1886.

• since united states annexation...

• Establishment of the Executive
• Lieutenant Governor
• Succession to Governorship
• Executive Powers
• Executive and Administrative Offices and Departments

Article XI

(Development of Resources)

Article III

(The Legislature)

• On April 10, 1877, following the death of William P. Leleiohoku, King David Kalakaua proclaimed Lydia Kamaka'eha Dominis to be his successor to the office of Constitutional Monarch in accordance with Article 22 of the Constitution of 1864.

• Conservation and Development of Resources
• Management and Disposition of Natural Resources
• Agricultural Lands
• Public Land Banking
• Marine/Water Resources
• Nuclear Energy
• Environmental Rights

Article XIII

(Collective Bargaining)

• Legislative Power
• Composition of Senate
• Composition of House of Reps
• Election of Members
• Vacancies
• Qualifications of Members
• Privileges of Members
• Disqualifications of Members
• Sessions and Adjournment
• Passage of Bills

• Private Employees
• Public Employees

Article XIV

• Code of Ethics (a code by which public officers and officials must abide by

A governor is elected every four years. The legislature has a senate with 25 members and a house of representatives with 51 members. The state elects two representatives and two senators to the U.S. Congress and has four electoral votes. Hawaii has long been a Democratic state, but Republicans have made recent gains.

Article XV

(Boundaries, Capital, Flag, Motto, Language)

Article VI

(The Judiciary)

under a treaty of annexation submitted to the United States Senate, on February 15, 1893. U.S. President Grover Cleveland, having received notice that the cause of the so-called revolution derived from illegal intervention by U.S. diplomatic and military personnel, withdrew the treaty of annexation

the United States allows five years to pass before new president William McKinley, enters a second treaty of annexation with the same individuals who participated in the illegal overthrow with the U.S. legation in 1893 on June 16, 1897, but the treaty was unable to be ratified by the United States Senate due to protests by Queen Lili‘uokalani and petitions against annexation by Hawaiian nationals. As a result of the Spanish-American War, the United States opted to unilaterally annex the Hawaiian Islands by enacting a congressional joint resolution on July 7, 1898, in order to utilize the Hawaiian Islands as a military base to fight the Spanish in Guam and the Philippines.

On January 20, 1891, King David Kalakaua passed away. His named successor, Lydia Kamaka'eha Dominis, ascended to the office of Constitutional Monarch and was thereafter called Queen Lili'uokalani . On January 14, 1893, in an attempt to counter the effects of the bayonet constitution of 1887, Queen Lili'uokalani, drafted a new constitution that embodied the principles and wording of the Constitution of 1864.

Under this constitution a new Legislature was elected while the lawful Legislature remained out of session. The voters, which for the first time included aliens, had to swear an oath to support the so-called constitution before they could vote. The insurgents used the alien vote to offset the majority vote of the aboriginal Hawaiian population, in order to gain control of the Legislative Assembly, while the 1887 constitution provided the self imposed Cabinet Council to control the Monarch. This new Legislature was not properly constituted under the Constitution of 1864, nor the lawfully executed Session Laws of the Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Article XVI

(General and Misc. Provisions)

Article XVIII

(Schedule)

Neil Abercrombie (Democrat)

• Judicial Power
• Supreme Court; Intermediate Appellate Court; Circuit Courts
• Appointment of Justices and Judges
• Judicial Selection Commission
• Retirement; Removal; Discipline
• Administration

United States legation assigned to the Hawaiian Kingdom, together with United States Marines and Naval personnel, were directly responsible for the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government. However, the United States Government fails to follow through in its commitment to assist in reinstating the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

alongside the bayonet costitution, the Constitution of 1864 and the Session laws of the Legislative Assembly enacted since October 16, 1886, still remain in full force and have legal effect in the Hawaiian Kingdomtoday. Article 78, of the Constitution of 1864, provides that all "laws now in force in this Kingdom, shall continue and remain in full effect, until altered or repealed by the Legislature; such parts only excepted as are repugnant to this Constitution. All laws heretofore enacted, or that may hereafter be enacted, which are contrary to this Constitution, shall be null and void."

On October 16, 1886, the Hawaiian Legislature was adjourned by King David Kalakaua after it met in Legislative session for 129 days. This Legislature was not scheduled to reconvene in Legislative Session until April of 1888. Article 46 of the Constitution of 1864 states that the Legislative Body shall assemble biennially, in the month of April, and at such other time as the King may judge necessary, for the purpose of seeking the welfare of the nation.

In 1994, Democrat Benjamin J. Cayetano became the first Filipino American to be elected governor of a U.S. state; he was reelected in 1998. Linda Lingle, elected governor in 2002, became the second Republican to win the office since statehood, and she was reelected four years later. In 2010 a Democrat, Neil Abercrombie, was elected governor and remains the current governor today.

• Civil Service
• Employees' Retirement System
• Oath of Office
• Intergovernmental Relations
• Federal Lands
• Compliance with Trust
• Hawaii National Park

• Districting and Apportionment
• 1978 Senatorial Elections
• Salaries of Legislators
• Effective Date for Term Limitations for Governor and Lieutenant Governor
• Judiciary: Transition; Effective Date
• Continuity of Laws
• Debts
• Residence, Other Qualifications

Article VIII

(Local Government)

Article XVII

(Revision and Amendment)

Article XII

(Hawaiian Affairs)

• Methods of Proposal
• Constitutional Convention
• Amendments Proposed by Legislature
• Veto
• Conflicting Revisions or Amendments

• Creation; Powers of Political Subdivisions
• Local Self-Government; Charter
• Taxation and Finance
• Mandates
• Transfer of Mandated Programs
• Statewide Laws

• Hawaiian Homes Commission Act
• Acceptance of Compact
• Public Trust
• Establishment of Board of Trustees
• Powers of Board of Trustees
• Traditional and Customary Rights

Sources

• http://ballotpedia.org/Article_XVIII,_Hawaii_Constitution
• http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/us/hawai
• http://www.hawaiiankingdom.org/us-occupation.shtml
• http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/04/03_hawaii.html