League of Women Voters of Honolulu and Common Cause challenged whether the process for adopting Act 84 (2018) complied with the Hawaii Constitution.  The lawsuit focused on the gut-and-replace legislative process that makes it difficult for members of the public and the Legislature to follow, understand, and provide meaningful comments on legislation.  Specifically, in 2018, halfway through the legislative session, the Legislature gutted S.B. 2858 (a bill that concerned reports made by the Department of Public Safety)–removing all content except its vague title (“Relating to Public Safety”)–and replaced the original content with a completely unrelated bill about hurricane resistant shelter space.  Plaintiffs claimed that the process violated the subject-in-title and three readings requirements of the Hawaii Constitution. The Honorable Gary Chang granted the State summary judgment. Civil No. 18-1-1376-09 GWBC.

Plaintiffs appealed that decision on May 2, 2019.  On December 18, the Hawaii Supreme Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to transfer the case.  The Hawaii Supreme Court heard oral argument on August 5, 2020. On November 4, 2021, in a 3-2 decision, the Hawaii Supreme Court held that the three readings requirement of the Hawaii Constitution requires that amendments to a bill must be germane to the original body of the bill, that the hurricane shelter version of S.B. 2858 was not germane to original version of the bill, and that the resulting law was void because it was adopted by an unconstitutional process. CAAP-19-372.  SCAP-19-372.

• Complaint (9/5/18)
• Answer (9/26/18)
• State’s Motion for Summary Judgment (10/9/18)
  • Plaintiffs’ Cross-Motion and Opposition to State’s Summary Judgment Motion (10/25/18)
  • State’s Reply Memorandum (11/7/18)
  • State’s Opposition to Cross-Motion (12/21/18)
  • Legislature’s Amicus Curiae Memorandum (12/27/18)
  • Plaintiffs’ Cross-Motion Reply Memorandum (1/4/19)
  • Plaintiffs’ Response to Amicus Curiae Memorandum (1/11/19)
  • Legislature’s Reply Amicus Curiae Memorandum (1/18/19)
  • Order Granting State’s Motion for Summary Judgment (4/3/19)
  • Order Denying Plaintiffs’ Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (4/3/19)
• Motion for Leave to File Amicus (11/27/18)
  • Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Motion for Leave (12/11/18)
  • Legislature’s Reply in Support of Motion (12/14/18)
  • State’s Reply in Support of Motion (12/14/18)
  • Order Granting Motion for Leave to file Amicus (3/15/19)
• Judgment (4/3/19)
• Notice of Appeal (5/2/19)
• Record on Appeal – Part 1, Part 2 (6/24/19)
• Opening Brief and Appendix (9/4/19)
  • Tax Foundation of Hawaii Amicus Curiae Brief (9/27/19)
    • State Response to Tax Foundation Amicus (11/13/19)
  • State Legislature Amicus Curiae Brief (11/5/19)
    • State Response to State Legislature Amicus (11/21/19)
    • Plaintiffs’ Response to State Legislature Amicus (12/5/19)
  • Grassroot Institute Amicus Curiae Brief (1/29/20)
    • State Response to Grassroot Institute Amicus (2/10/20)
  • State Legislature Second Amicus Curiae Brief (3/10/20)
    • Plaintiffs’ Response to State Legislature Amicus (3/27/20)
  • State Answering Brief (11/13/19)
  • Reply Brief (12/9/19)
• Application for Transfer (11/15/19)
  • State Response to Application for Transfer (11/21/19)
  • Order Granting Application for Transfer (12/18/19)
• Oral Argument (audio) (8/5/20)
• Opinion (11/4/21)
  • Dissenting Opinion (11/4/21)
• Attorney General Opinion 22-01 (1/20/22) (analyzing germaneness standard for bill amendments)