In sharp rebuke, state Supreme Court penalizes AG over baseless Lahaina water shortage claim

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Attorney General and DLNR made baseless accusations in bad faith in a dispute over water to fight fires.

The case began on the same day as the Lahaina wildfire — Aug. 8 — when the state attorney general claimed that a ruling by the environmental court Judge had made it harder to fight fires on Maui because of water restrictions and asked that the restrictions be suspended.

The Sierra Club challenged the claim and Maui County said it had no shortage of water for firefighting. And in unusually strong language, the Supreme Court on Thursday agreed that there was no evidence to support the AG’s claim, and that it was frivolous and in bad faith.

The court also criticized the AG for refusing to retract the claim after the hearing.

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As a penalty, the court ordered the state to pay Sierra Club all of its costs and legal fees.

Sierra Club of Hawaii Director Wayne Tanaka said he was “heartened” by the court’s ruling.

“This is not just about the shameless exploitation of an unimaginable tragedy by a government agency, to benefit one of the most powerful corporations in our islands,” he said.

“This is also about defending the integrity of our judiciary, and Hawaiʻi’s highest court, from disinformation submitted in bad faith.”

The state Attorney General responded in a brief statement: “The Department of the Attorney General disagrees with the court’s characterization and with its conclusions.”