9th Circuit is told to reconsider OHA ruling (Taxpayers cannot sue "Hawaiian-only" program)

starbulletin.com ^ | June 14, 2006 | Mark Niesse

[paudio]

A lawsuit seeking to cut off public money used for native Hawaiian programs has suffered a setback in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on Monday told an appeals court to reconsider whether taxpayers have the right to sue over how the government spends their money.

"It's likely the court will dismiss the case," said Clyde Namuo, administrator for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. "That's a favorable ruling for us."

The Supreme Court ordered the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review whether taxpayers have standing to sue over lawmakers' tax or spending decisions.

The decision was prompted by a ruling in another case, in which the high court sided against a group of Ohio taxpayers who objected to nearly $300 million in tax breaks for a new DaimlerChrysler AG Jeep plant.

A lawyer for the Hawaii taxpayers making the claim, H. William Burgess, said the case is far from settled.

[paudio]

In a rare ocassion like this, I prefer 9th Circuit decision than SCOTUS. But I'm not a lawyer, so I may be wrong.

[Jaysun]

They can't win the right to sue over how the government spends our money. It would be disastrous. The left would sue our asses off, straight to Bolshevism.

[John Valentine]

Agreed, such lawsuits, as much as they might appeal to our snece of redressing wrongs as we see them, and God knows using tax receipts to fund race-based expenditures IS wrong, we just can't open this particular door.

That's not to say that such a case couldn't be brought, it's just that it couldn't be brought by just any old taxpayer. The plaintiff would have to assert some other standing to sue.

[libertylover]

Rare indeed. As I recall, the U.S. Constitution specifies what the federal government is allowed to spend money on and "money used for native Hawaiian programs" ain't one of them. In fact, most things Congress spends money on isn't on the list either IMHO.

[muawiyah]

There is, in fact, no detailed list. However, there is a process and Congress is part of it.

The only issue here is whether or not a federal court can be used to dictate to the Congress how it spends tax money.

If the USSC said "It's OK", that would be something for which the USSC members should be impeached and removed from office, and then beheaded.

[freepatriot32]

Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here

[GovernmentShrinker]

On the other hand, the 9th Circus is about to reconsider the earlier decision of 3-judge panel of itself, to force the private school founded for native Hawaiians only, to end their "race-based admission policy" -- how the panel came to that decision is beyond me, since the school doesn't take a dime of public money. The federal government should stop funding handout programs of any kind, and should also stop meddling in the affairs of private organizations and businesses.