When the Law Evolves: Reflections on the Hawaiʻi Animal Law Section’s Amicus Brief

As the Nonhuman Rights Project prepares to appear before the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court on behalf of Mari and Vaigai, I’ve been reflecting on the remarkable support our case has received.

One notable brief was filed by the Animal Law Section of the Hawaiʻi State Bar Association. Amicus briefs are briefs from “friends of the court.” Like true friends advising on an important decision, they bring a broader perspective into the conversation. 

For the Hawaiʻi lawyers, this broader perspective is informed by the legal, intellectual, and societal traditions of Hawaiʻi. Not only does their brief situate Mari and Vaigai’s case within a fundamental feature of our legal tradition–that the common law must evolve–but it makes a compelling case that the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court must ground any decision in the Aloha Spirit.

The Aloha Spirit is expressly recognized in Hawaiʻi law. It invites judges exercising power to contemplate kindness, humility, harmony, and, as the Hawaiʻi lawyers’ brief puts it, “respect for nature’s dignity.”

The brief draws on Native Hawaiian tradition to show what these values mean in practice. Native Hawaiians, it notes, regarded animals as “of the same order as people,” some embodying ʻaumakua, or ancestral guardians. That is humility: recognizing that other beings have inherent value.

Kindness and respect for nature’s dignity point the same way. Wild Asian elephants range across 6 to 500 square miles and form close bonds with as many as 50 other elephants. Mari has lived at the Honolulu Zoo since 1982, and Vaigai since 1992, in an enclosure of about an acre and a half.

As the brief puts it, the Court “has the chance to grant them the dignity of a life more closely aligned with nature by allowing them to be released to a sanctuary.” That would mean liberty.

Hawaiʻi Public Radio aired an insightful interview with retired University of Hawaiʻi professor Victoria Anderson about this case’s significance. She pointed to pono, Native Hawaiian tradition, and the Aloha Spirit as values that inform Hawaiʻi and its law. She also highlighted something else significant: this argument will take place before the public at Punahou School, inviting the broader community into a legal conversation about Mari and Vaigai and the meaning of justice.

The NhRP’s Jake Davis will argue for Mari and Vaigai on November 9. As we look forward to that court date, I’m grateful to the attorneys in Hawaiʻi who have helped make that case, and the community that is rallying in Mari and Vaigai’s defense. I’m also left wondering: how will the Supreme Court infuse the Aloha Spirit into the historic decision?