Free Republic

San Francisco -- A divided federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a Hawaiian private school can favor Hawaiian natives for admission to help a downtrodden indigenous population. The decision by a majority of a 15-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the court's three-judge decision that the Kamehameha Schools policy amounted to unlawful discrimination. The majority noted that the case, brought by a white student excluded because of his race, was unique because Congress has singled out the plight of native Hawaiians as they have with Alaskan natives and American Indians. The policy, the court ruled,...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) About 400 alumni and supporters of Hawaii's Kamehameha Schools rallied in San Francisco on Saturday to protest a recent court ruling that struck down the schools' policy of giving admissions preference to students of native Hawaiian ancestry. Donning red and black T-shirts reading ``Ku I Ka Pono,'' or Justice for Hawaiians, the protesters marched past the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, home to the three-judge panel that handed down the ruling. In its 2-1 ruling, the appeals court said on Aug. 2 that the schools' Hawaiians-first admissions policy violates federal anti-discrimination laws. ``We will not we...