A Hilo Circuit Court judge ruled Wednesday he doesn’t have jurisdiction in a case seeking a preliminary injunction to halt construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
A Hilo Circuit Court judge ruled Wednesday he doesn’t have jurisdiction in a case seeking a preliminary injunction to halt construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
Judge Glenn Hara said a recent ruling by state Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald makes legal judgments on leases and subleases the jurisdiction of environmental judges.
Two 3rd Circuit judges, Ronald Ibarra and Greg Nakamura, are designated as environmental judges.
Ibarra is the Big Island’s chief judge, so he likely will decide who hears the lawsuit.
East Hawaii residents Kaniu Kinimaka-Stocksdale and Mike Yellen requested the injunction as part of a legal challenge of the University of Hawaii’s authority to grant subleases to observatories on Mauna Kea, while attorneys for the state are seeking a summary judgment dismissing the lawsuit.
A Sept. 18 hearing for the request for injunction is canceled, pending reassignment of the case, as is the request to dismiss, which was to be heard Wednesday.