The red portion is where I would say you are inaccurately stating what the HSC said in their ruling.
Is it your belief that the HSC issued nothing more than an opinion even though it specifically said they disagree with the SCOTUS precedents without being in defiance of the SCOTUS precedents?
Courts only do opinions. If they hold an opinion contrary to SCOTUS' rulings, that the 2A applies to individuals (the people), they are defying the court's precedents, and any cases they rule on in the future will incorporate that contrary decision.
Keep trying to redefine the word "defiance" all you want. It won't change reality.
Article I, section 17 of the Hawaiʻi Constitution mirrors
the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. We read
those words differently than the current United States Supreme
Court. We hold that in Hawaiʻi there is no state constitutional
right to carry a firearm in public.
HSC is stating they hold a contrary opinion from the SCOTUS rulings which affirmed the right to carry exists nationally -- of which HI is a part. HI is saying there is no such right if they say so.
The State appeals an order dismissing two “place to keep”
offenses, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes (HRS) § 134-25 (2011) (pistol
or revolver) and § 134-27 (2011) (ammunition) filed against
Christopher Wilson. Citing New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n,
Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), the Circuit Court of the
Second Circuit dismissed the charges.
Sounds like the HI circuit court agreed with the SCOTUS opinions and dismissed the charges.
The State challenges Wilson’s standing. The State says
Wilson did not bother to apply for a carry license and thereby
satisfy HRS § 134-9 (2011), Hawaiʻi’s license to carry law. So
he can’t bring a Bruen-based constitutional challenge to HRS
§ 134-25 and § 134-27.
The state argued standing, which is what the state always does when they know they have a weak case. If they can win that argument, then they don't have to do anything else. Once standing is granted, the state then has to win on the merits. You act like that was some legal fact, when it was just a tactic.
The state argued using circular reasoning saying that since Wilson didn't avail himself of the state's unconstitutional process and apply for a license, then he can't argue that the law is unconstitutional. How stupid is that? The whole point of having a Bill of Rights is so you don't have to comply with laws that violate them -- especially not just so you can argue in court that you shouldn't have to follow those bad laws.
Given that standing was a bogus argument, the HSC had no choice but to decide in Wilson's favor. Your continued use of standing as somehow a relevant part of this discussion is moot. The state gave Wilson standing when they charged him with a crime related to carrying outside his home.
Because the State charged Wilson with place to keep
offenses, we conclude that Wilson has standing to challenge the
constitutionality of those laws. A criminal defendant has
standing to level a constitutional attack against the charged.
And this is where the HSC said/stated/articulated that
they are defying SCOTUS:
We reject Wilson’s constitutional challenges. Conventional
interpretive modalities and Hawaiʻi’s historical tradition of
firearm regulation rule out an individual right to keep and bear
arms under the Hawaiʻi Constitution. In Hawaiʻi, there is no
state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public.
Bruen snubs federalism principles. Still, the United
States Supreme Court does not strip states of all sovereignty to
pass traditional police power laws designed to protect people.
Wilson has standing to challenge HRS § 134-25(a) and § 134-
27(a). But those laws do not violate his federal constitutional
rights.
Basically, they decided that
under HI law, there is no right similar to federal constitutional 2A rights. Then they say HI laws don't violate federal constitutional rights. That's bogus -- it's circular reasoning. They are using their interpretation of state constitutional rights to defy Wilson's rights as defined under SCOTUS case law.
The circuit court denied Wilson’s motion to dismiss in July
2021. It relied on Young v. Hawaiʻi. There, the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals held that the Second Amendment does not provide
a right to openly carry a firearm for self-defense.
The court relied on a 9th Circus ruling saying that individuals in HI have no right to carry OPENLY. The facts show that Wilson was carrying CONCEALED. Not sure the HCS panel ever took English comprehension in school.
The Maui Department of the Prosecuting Attorney (State)
countered.
First, the Second Amendment allows for some restrictions
per Heller and Bruen. For instance, registration and permitting
are constitutional. Second, unlike the Bruen plaintiffs, Wilson
illegally possessed a handgun because he never tried to follow
Hawaiʻi’s firearm registration and license to carry law. Because
he didn’t apply for a permit, he lacks standing to raise a
Second Amendment challenge.
Circuit Court Judge Kirstin Hamman granted Wilson’s second
motion to dismiss in August 2022. HRS § 134-25(a) and § 134-
27(a) infringed Wilson’s constitutional right to keep and bear a
firearm for self-defense.
The circuit court judge AGREED WITH WILSON, that the law restricting firearms to one's home and other specific locales was unconstitutional.
One more time the lower HI court got it right as they AGREED with prior SCOTUS rulings and precedents.
The State had failed to meet its burden to show how HRS
§ 134-25(a) and § 134-27(a) are “consistent with the Nation’s
historical tradition of firearm regulation.” The circuit court
also found that HRS § 134-25(a) and § 134-27(a) made “no
exceptions for carrying firearms outside the home for selfdefense purposes.”
[There are exceptions in those laws -
“[e]xcept as provided in sections 134-5 and 134-9.” This
mistake though is immaterial to our decision.]
The court dismissed counts 1 and 2 with prejudice.
Once a case is adjudicated
with prejudice, it can never be charged again.
HSC then cites a NY ruling (go figure) to support the claim that
“Failing to seek a
license before roaming the streets with a loaded firearm is not
abiding by the law, and nothing in the Second Amendment requires
that it be tolerated.”
Again, you must first follow an unconstitutional law before you can argue that the law is unconstitutional. That's
Catch 22 material. HSC specifically stated that's their reasoning:
Wilson says HRS § 134-9 “may be unconstitutional” and that
it is unreasonable to “[r]equire[] defendants to apply for
licenses pursuant [to] a potentially unconstitutional statute as
a prerequisite to challenging other statutes[.]” HRS § 134-9 is
unconstitutional, Wilson’s argument goes, so he should not have
to apply for a license to challenge the law.
We disagree. Wilson has no standing to challenge HRS
§ 134-9 without applying for a license.
Had Wilson followed the
HRS § 134-9 application process, and been denied, then he might
have standing to challenge that law’s constitutionality in his
criminal case.
This all happened in 2017. The Bruen decision was in 2022. So, even if Wilson had applied for a license to carry, we all know it would have been summarily denied. End of story. For the state to say he should have applied for one in order to avail himself of a constitutionally protected right is ridiculous on its face, particularly when the predictable result would have been no license being issued.
HSC then goes on to reiterate that they interpret HI's constitution differently than SCOTUS interprets the US Constitution. The court misapplied the precedent they cited by siding with the plaintiff, when the ruling clearly says that if the state constitution gives the win to the defendant, then there's no need to argue about what the US Constitution says.
Thus, we interpret the Hawaiʻi Constitution first. And may
not get to the United States Constitution. See State v. Kono,
152 A.3d 1, 29 n.29 (Conn. 2016) (“If we address the state
constitutional claim first and decide it in favor of the
defendant, there is no reason to address the federal
constitutional claim; for purposes of that case, the defendant
is entitled to prevail under the state constitution, and it
simply does not matter which way the claim would have been
decided under the federal constitution.”); State v. Moylett, 836
P.2d 1329, 1332 (Or. 1992) (“if no state law, including the
state constitution, resolves the issues, courts then should turn
for assistance to the Constitution of the United States”).
Again -- English comprehension.
Then the HSC breaks into a long-winded and convoluted dissertation. Part of the that is the state trying to argue:
The State argues Wilson’s handgun-toting conduct is not
saved by the right to bear arms. He trespassed, a crime. He’s
not “law abiding.” The State’s position makes sense in the
abstract. Neither Bruen, nor any case, protect a right to
commit a crime while armed.
They are saying that, if you are committing a crime (trespassing), then your right to carry under the US Constitution is no longer protected.
That's another bogus argument. Until he's been arrested and found guilty of trespassing, the right was still his. More circular reasoning. You have a right, but that right is taken away if you break any other rules. Name another right that works like that. If you kill someone on camera and have no defense, do you then lose your 4th, 5th or 14th amendment rights, too? Why is it only the second amendment is subject to revocation once you are accused of a crime?
At least the HSC got that right, saying:
The State’s argument about Wilson’s alleged criminal
conduct does not apply. Wilson’s criminal trespass charge
(count 4) is not before this court. And it’s a trial matter.
The parties dispute the facts in declarations attached to their
motion to dismiss briefing. These declarations are fair game
for now. They comply with Hawaiʻi Rules of Penal Procedure Rule
47(a) (“If a motion requires the consideration of facts not
appearing of record, it shall be supported by affidavit or
declaration.”).
Wilson denies trespassing. Wilson says that he and his
friends “were hiking that night to look at the moon and Native
Hawaiian plants.” They did not see any “No Trespassing” signs.
For purposes of the motion to dismiss, Wilson’s alleged criminal
conduct does not prevent him from challenging the charges under
the Second Amendment and article I, section 17.
Score one for good judgement.
Then HSC went off the rails. They cited a previous HI case in which the right to keep and bear arms for individuals did not exist in the state:
Because the text of article I, section 17, its purpose, and
Hawaiʻi’s historical tradition of weapons regulation support a
collective, militia meaning, we hold that the Hawaiʻi
Constitution does not afford a right to carry firearms in public
places for self-defense.
Basically, because a judge ruled in 1993 what the state constitution section 17 means, all before Heller, Bruen and other cases decided in favor of the 2A right to carry, the HSC now defies the SCOTUS rulings under the belief that:
We believe that if article I, section 17 meant to provide
an individual right to carry deadly weapons in public for selfdefense, then it would say so.
Well, nowhere in the 1A does it say you have the right to publish protected speech on the Internet without government interference either, but that happens to be a fact. I'm not a lawyer or a judge, but this reasoning is just mind-blowing. Everyone who studies the Constitutions knows and understands that the Bill of Rights doesn't enumerate what your rights are, excluding anything that's not a right. It states what specific rights AMONG ALL RIGHTS -- listed or not -- that the government must honor and how it must go about doing that (i.e. must not be infringed). Looking at the other rights, they are in no way all inclusive either. I bet the HSC still thinks abortion is a constitutional right. Where is that written, exactly?
We conclude that the authors and ratifiers of the Hawaiʻi
Constitution imagined a collective right. Our understanding
aligns with what the Second Amendment meant in 1950 when Hawaiʻi
copied the federal constitution’s language. And in 1968 and
1978 when Hawaiʻi’s people kept those words.
To use their reasoning, if HI adopted the 2A wording from the US Constitution because they agreed with its meaning in 1950, then isn't that the state's mistake?
To use the HSC's own reasoning, if the right were to be interpreted as a "collective right", would that not be explicitly worded in the 2A text? Instead, it clearly states that the right OF THE PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed -- not the right of the militia or the collective right of the state.
And if you didn't already question the sanity and rationality of the HSC, this would be the clincher:
In Hawaiʻi, the Aloha Spirit inspires constitutional
interpretation. See Sunoco, 153 Hawaiʻi at 363, 537 P.3d at 1210
(Eddins, J., concurring). When this court exercises “power on
behalf of the people and in fulfillment of [our]
responsibilities, obligations, and service to the people” we
“may contemplate and reside with the life force and give
consideration to the ‘Aloha Spirit.’” HRS § 5-7.5(b) (2009).
The spirit of Aloha clashes with a federally-mandated
lifestyle that lets citizens walk around with deadly weapons
during day-to-day activities.
So, "lifestyle", which we know varies from place to place and person to person, is now the foundation for what is a protected right and what is not?
This belief is why HI is being roasted now.
If you can't see how this opinion defies the rulings handed down by the SCOTUS, then you're being willfully argumentative. Nobody can help anyone who refuses to believe what's in front of their eyes.