Kamehameha Schools' admissions policy is part of restorative justice for an indigenous people whose culture, property and self-governance were nearly destroyed by 19th and 20th century colonialism. There is a critical difference between an affirmative action or diversity program and the efforts of a private institution to help an indigenous people almost wiped out by Western influence. The civil rights of Americans are not threatened with a program by Native Hawaiians designed to uplift their own people.

Attorney Fishes for Plaintiffs in Doe Redux

Attorney David Rosen is sending out emails trying to find plaintiffs for a lawsuit “identical to the John Doe lawsuit that was recently settled.” The KITV4 website has a story here. Text of Rosen’s email and Richard Rowland’s forward is included below with email addresses, phone and fax numbers and addresses redacted.

“It’s sad and it’s outrageous that people continue to try and attack a private trust that was established for the benefit of the Hawaiian people,” the article quoted Kamehameha Schools spokeswoman Ann Botticelli as saying.

Rosen says in his email that there will “absolutely no cost to the Plaintiffs,” which makes one wonder who is paying for the enormous legal bills that such a lawsuit would entail? And what are the interests of the bill-payers in this matter?

UPDATE: The Advertiser article says that Rosen said “he hasn’t received any outside funding but said he’s willing to accept future financial support to cover costs.”

The same article also paraphrases Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Walter Heen who “said he believes that last week’s John Doe settlement is promoting the belief among lawyers such as Rosen that Kamehameha Schools is a ‘big cash cow’ that can be milked for legal fees and big out-of-court settlements.”

May 18, 2007

Dear [name redacted],

David Rosen has asked our help with finding plaintiffs for his lawsuit. His request below explains it fully. If you are interested, call him.

If you know anyone else who might be interested, please forward this to them.

Warm regards,

Richard O. Rowland, President
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

—–Original Message—–
From: RosenLaw
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 9:59 AM
To: H.W. Burgess; Richard Rowland
Subject: Request for Plaintiffs

Bill and Dick:

As we discussed, I am attempting to put together a group of plaintiffs to bring an action challenging Kamehameha Schools’ race-based admissions policy. The lawsuit will be identical to the John Doe lawsuit that was recently settled. I hope to have a group of at least 10-20 plaintiffs prior to filing the lawsuit.

The new lawsuit will be brought as a John and Jane Doe action and the identity of all of the plaintiffs will be kept extremely confidential; identities will be disclosed only to the presiding judge and possibly opposing counsel subject to a protective order. Interested plaintiffs and/or their parents may contact me directly. I will not disclose their identity to anyone without their prior consent. There will be absolutely no cost to the Plaintiffs.

To be a plaintiff, a party must either be or have a school aged child (i.e., 4-16 years old), must live in Hawaii, and must have the intent to attend the Kamehameha Schools if accepted. It may also be necessary to apply for admission to Kamehameha Schools, although this need not have been already done.

Thank you for your assistance.

David B. Rosen, Esq.
Law Office of David B. Rosen, a law corporation

UPDATE: HawaiiChannel.com, KITV4’s website, followed up their previous story with a report that the state bar received complaints about the Rosen email. “Professional ethics codes prohibit attorneys from soliciting clients through e-mail,” mentions the article. Also see the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and The Honolulu Advertiser articles.

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