Reversals of Fortune: The Hawaii Supreme Court, the Memorandum Opinion, and the Realignment of Political Power in Post-statehood Hawai'i

The Richardson-led Hawaii Supreme Court (1966-82) has been characterized as "controversial, " having "altered Hawaii law so that it became more reflective of the islands' uncommon cultural heritage. "I In contrast, the court under the direction of Herman T. Lum has been called "passive," "a care-taker rather than the player it was under William Richardson," emphasizing "efficiency.

University of Hawai‘i’s senior law professor notifies U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, Jr., of war crimes committed in the Hawaiian Islands

Press release about Professor Chang's Press Conference at William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Monday, September 22, 2014, at 2:00 pm.Senior law professor Williamson B.C. Chang has reported to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. that war crimes have and continue to be committed in the Hawaiian Islands

Indigenous Values and the Law of the Sea

First presented at the 2013 Law and Society Annual Meeting. Chapter 16 in Governing Ocean Resources, New Challenges and Emerging Regimes: A Tribute to Judge Choon-Ho Park (2013).This article proposes that Native Hawaiians reclaim sovereignty over the waters and islands of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The islands, also known as Papahānaumokuākea, are currently managed by two agencies of the United States and the State of Hawai`i as a National Monument comprising some 140,000 square miles.5 Sovereignty or a quasi-sovereign trusteeship over those islands and waters would give Native Hawaiians the power to implement their concepts of ocean governance

Meaning, Reference, and Reification in the Definition of a Security

Among the most critical problems in securities regulation is determining what constitutes a "security." The Supreme Court has never positively identified the essential features of a security. If the Court ever arrives at a comprehensive definition, its decision will affect many corporations and major economic transactions. In this Article, Professor Chang develops a comprehensive, yet relatively simple model that defines security for the purposes of federal regulation and reconciles the Court's major securities decisions. The Article also provides insight into the use of language, describes the implications of "open-ended" legislative intent, and offers a framework with which to view the dialectic process of common lawmaking as a consistent evolution of standards

Zen, Law and Language: Of Power and Paradigms

16 N.M. L. Rev. 543 1986The purpose of this article is to describe how a comparative philosophical methodology, specifically the application of the philosophical premises of Zen, may be useful in illuminating the nature of problems in legal philosophy. Moreover, this article describes how transcending the legal paradigm may empower students by demonstrating that internal linguistic choices may actually dictate the seemingly objective reality about law