Napeahi v. Paty

921 F.2d 897 Mervin NAPEAHI, individually and on behalf of all those similarly situated, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William PATY, in his capacity as Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawaii, Defendant-Appellee. No. 87-1844. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Dec. 13, 1988. Decided Dec. 18, 1990. Alan T. Murakami and Livia Wang, Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., Honolulu, Hawaii, for plaintiff-appellant. Edwin P. Watson, Deputy Atty. Gen., State of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, for defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii. Before HUG, TANG and KOZINSKI, Circuit Judges. HUG, Circuit Judge: 1 This action concerns an alleged breach of trust by the State of Hawaii in the manner in which the state officials defined the shoreline of a parcel of privately owned real property. The state official's certification of the high water mark of the ocean waves along the shoreline of the parcel resulted in including 1.75 acres within the boundary of the privately owned parcel, rather than as submerged land held by the State in trust for the people of Hawaii.I. Overview 2 The State of Hawaii,…