Can the Gov of Hawaii Be Sued for Violation People's Rights

[Riker0007]

My question involves civil rights in the State of: Hawaii.
I own a deeded timeshare and pay property taxes. I was denied the ability to stay at my place due to his 14 day mandatory quarantine. Is there not some sort of law and or part of the constitution that is being violated? He's treating people from the mainland differently than people living there. They are sending thugs to randomly check to see if they are locked up. Can a class action be done? Anything?

[cdwjava]

You can try. But, whether you can prevail or not is a bit of a question mark. If nothing has been done to you (i.e. you stayed away) and you suffered no harm or loss, you may not even have grounds to sue. There are some people who HAVE been arrested or forced to remain indoors as a result of these orders, and those people might have grounds to sue. I suspect that across the nation we will see these suits quickly settled for a host of reasons.

But, if you believe you have grounds, speak to an attorney. And, good luck suing a state.

[Taxing Matters]

My question involves civil rights in the State of: Hawaii.
I own a deeded timeshare and pay property taxes. I was denied the ability to stay at my place due to his 14 day mandatory quarantine. Is there not some sort of law and or part of the constitution that is being violated? He's treating people from the mainland differently than people living there. They are sending thugs to randomly check to see if they are locked up. Can a class action be done? Anything?

You could not sue the governor himself. His issuing the order did not directly cause you any harm. But if the order was improper you could have challenged that in court. Also had you violated the order and been arrested or charged for violating the quarantine, you could challenge that action in court if the action violated your rights. However, you could not sue the state for money damages for it in federal court (e.g. using a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983) because the 11th Amendment to the Constitution bars such claims. If the action takes against you was by a city or county, however, you could potentially sue the city or county for money damages under federal law. It may also be possible to personally sue the government official(s) who took action against you that violated your civil rights.

Note that generally in such cases you are only entitled to get compensated for actual financial loss you suffered as a result of the civil rights violations. In order to get punitive damages you have to overcome qualified immunity and also show the government official was reckless or callously indifferent to the federally protected rights of others he or she was motivated by an evil intent. If the official acted in good faith thinking that the actions were lawful you don't get punitive damages.

Perhaps Hawaii also has statutes that would allow you to sue for civil rights violations. I have not researched the Hawaii law on that.

The above is a very simplified explanation and there is a lot more to it. The best way for you to know if you have a case worth pursuing is to consult an attorney who litigates civil rights claims. Most will give you a free initial consultation.

[cbg]

"whether you live on the mainland or not" is not a protected right under the law. It's legal to discriminate based on geography in this case.

[pg1067]

"whether you live on the mainland or not" is not a protected right under the law. It's legal to discriminate based on geography in this case.

You might want to do some reading about Article IV, section 2, cl. 1 of the U.S. Constitution (aka the Privileges and Immunities Clause) before making statements like this. The basic gist of it is that a state may not discriminate against folks from other states. See also section 1, Clause 2 of the 14th Amendment (the Privileges or Immunities Clause).

[cbg]

Thanks for the heads up. Mea culpa.

[Taxing Matters]

You might want to do some reading about Article IV, section 2, cl. 1 of the U.S. Constitution (aka the Privileges and Immunities Clause) before making statements like this. The basic gist of it is that a state may not discriminate against folks from other states. See also section 1, Clause 2 of the 14th Amendment (the Privileges or Immunities Clause).

I agree, but there is a distinction between treating persons differently because of their state citizenship and restricting movement into or out of a quarantine restricted area to anyone who does not live in that area, whether a resident of that state or not. And I suspect that is what was really going on here rather than discriminating against out of state residents.