William S. Richardson

William S. Richardson, formally William Shaw Richardson (born 22 December, 1919) is the former Chief Justice of the Hawaiokinai State Supreme Court. He served as Chief Justice from 1966 to 1982cite web |url= http://www.hawaii.edu/law/site-content/about-us/about-william-s-richardson/index.html |title= About William S. Richardson |accessdate=2007-05-13 |publisher= University of Hawaiokinai at Mānoa ] . Prior to his service as the top jurist in Hawaiokinai, Richardson was lieutenant governor under John A. Burns. Before that, he was chairman of the Hawaiokinai Democratic Party from 1956 to 1962.

Early years

Richardson claims Native Hawaiian, Chinese, and Caucasian ancestrycite web |url= http://www2.hawaii.edu/~nhlawctr/article2-1.htm|title= Director's Column: Honoring Chief Justice William S. Richardson |accessdate=2007-05-13 |last= MacKenzie |first= Melody Kapilialoha |work= Ka Heokinae ] . He has referred to himself as "just a local boy from Hawaiokinai." He is a graduate of Roosevelt High School, University of Hawaiokinai at Mānoa, and University of Cincinnati law school. Richardson served in World War II with the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment.

Controversies

William S. Richardson's tenure as chief justice irritated many although others proclaimed him a hero for native and local rights. He despised commercial overdevelopment, especially at the coastlines and beaches. Richardson's court expanded Native Hawaiian rights. He allowed the public to have rights to Hawaiokinai's beaches. He ruled that land created by lava floes belonged to the state, not to nearby property owners. Richardson is most famous for declaring, "The western concept of exclusivity is not universally applicable in Hawaiokinai." His most controversial decision came about in consideration of a case between two sugar plantations fighting over a water source. Richardson reached back into the judicial history of the Kingdom of Hawaiokinai and declared that the water belonged to neither of them but to the state.

Legacy

Before his retirement from the bar, Richardson was memorialized with the naming of the state's only law school in his honor. The William S. Richardson School of Law was his crowning achievement, as he fought for its establishment for decades. Richardson is still involved with the development of the law school.

Resources

*i State Judiciary|accessdate=2007-05-13
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