On October 20, 2021, plaintiffs Sonia Davis, Jessica Lau, Lauralee B. Riedell, and Adam M. Walton filed a legal action against Mayor Victorino and Maui County stemming from sweeps of the houseless community at Kanahā Beach Park. The legal action filed in the Second Circuit Court is an agency appeal that challenges the decision to evict unsheltered people from Amala Place in Kahului and destroy their personal belongings during the week of September 20, 2021.
The appeal describes how Plaintiffs were denied their constitutional due process rights by the County. This occurred when their written requests for a contested case hearing, filed before the sweeps began, were ignored by the County. On the day of the sweep, Plaintiffs, and about 60 other people residing in the encampment, were forced to vacate the area or face arrest. The County’s failure to give Plaintiffs a fair opportunity to have a hearing violated the rights of people who have no other viable place to reside—rights including procedural due process rights, the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, and the right to be free from unlawful agency action.
The Plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i (“ACLU of Hawai‘i"). The ACLU of Hawai‘i previously sent a demand letter requesting that the County, immediately cease the unconstitutional action, but never received a response.
