Hawaii’s Supreme Court brazenly disregarded the United States Supreme Court in a recent Second Amendment decision. In the case State v. Wilson regarding the carrying of firearms in public, they stated that the “Spirit of Aloha” takes precedence over the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Constitution is the Supreme law of the land.
This court needs to go back to first year law school, decisions like this are poorly reasoned and flawed at the most basic level.Decisions like this are a judicial firing on Ft. Sumpterhttps://t.co/OWu7vBbmRX
— Todd Richardson (@MyAttorneyTodd) February 9, 2024
Succession rumors of late have been connected to Texas due to its border standoff. However, the justices of Hawaii’s highest court seemed to be equally defiant of Federal authority, even if wielding paper rather than the National Guard.
Back in 2017, a man named Christopher Wilson was charged with carrying a firearm for self-defense while hiking in Hawaii. His appeal on Second Amendment grounds was bolstered by two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that affirmed the right to bear arms extends outside one’s home. These were D.C. v. Heller from 2008 and New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen from 2022.
But when Wilson’s appeal reached the State Supreme Court in progressive Hawaii — the justices seemed to be under the impression that they served in the Republic of Hawaii. They weren’t going to let a silly thing like a U.S. Supreme Court precedent stand in the way of their Marxist utopian edicts.
Justice Todd Eddins, speaking for all five justices in the unanimous decision, had this to say about the pesky Second Amendment: “We read those words differently than the current United States Supreme Court.”
Eddins continued: “The spirit of Aloha clashes with a federally-mandated lifestyle that lets citizens walk around with deadly weapons during day-to-day activities.”
So “Aloha supremacy” trumps “Federal supremacy” — though it is doubtful the 2020 appointee of liberal Democrat Gov. David Ige would word it such.
The opinion went on to say: “The history of the Hawaiian Islands does not include a society where armed people move about the community to possibly combat the deadly aims of others.”
“We believe it is a misplaced view to think that today’s public safety laws must look like laws passed long ago,” Justice Eddins continued, contrasting founding-era muskets to modern weapons.
Legal documents and court precedents are SO 1789. Justice Eddins is a modern sort of fellow — so he quoted the HBO show The Wire in his decision: “The thing about the old days, they are the old days.”
Justice Eddins may be entitled to his personal opinion on the matter, but his office as Supreme Court Justice does not entitle him to impose that view on the State of Hawaii. If he wishes to lobby his congressmen for a “History of the Hawaiian Islands” amendment to the United States Constitution — he is free to do so on his own time.
But infantile “na-na-na-na-boo-boo” and “no fair!” arguments are not becoming of a state Supreme Court Justice, nor is citing HBO crime dramas in decisions.
One might suggest impeachment as a remedy — but Justice Eddins was confirmed by a 25-0 vote in the Hawaii Senate. Attorney General Ann Lopez apparently lives in the same clown world, praising the decision. The current United States Supreme Court — with its three Trump-appointed constructionists — likely will metaphorically “send Justice Eddins to his room” in short order.
