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Schools For Native Hawaiians Lose Ruling

2005

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the admissions policy of the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii violates the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The schools, which are funded by the legacy of a 19th-century Hawaiian princess, require prospective students to prove that at least one ancestor lived in Hawaii in 1778, when British explorers arrived. The schools say their admissions policy is part of an affirmative action program directed at compensating native Hawaiians for hardships and at revitalizing Hawaiian culture. A three-judge panel rules, 2-1, that the policy violates the law by completely barring all other applicants to the schools. The schools plan to appeal.