Law Commons^™

Putting The Public Back In The Public Trust Doctrine: A Reinterpretation To Advance Native Hawaiian Water Rights, Steven Hindman

Washington Law Review

The public trust doctrine guarantees that the government will hold natural resources in trust and protect them for the common good. The doctrine has played a key role in the allocation of water rights, particularly for Native American and Native Hawaiian interests in the United States. State and federal courts often consider the doctrine when deciding if certain use rights should be granted. In Hawai‘i, the doctrine has taken on a particularly robust form because the State Constitution expressly provides that all public natural resources are to be held in trust for the benefit of all Hawaiians. Unfortunately, the doctrine’s …