The Hawaii Supreme Court justice used a ruling overturning a decades‑old criminal conviction to deliver a rebuke of the nation’s highest court, accusing it of weakening constitutional rights, damaging democracy and advancing a political agenda.
Justice Todd Eddins authored a 91‑page majority opinion in State v. Granillo, a case involving a 1990 conviction for kidnapping and sexual assault on Maui. The court ordered a new trial after concluding that hair and fiber evidence presented by an FBI expert relied on forensic science now discredited.
In roughly eight pages of the opinion, Eddins argued that Hawaii’s courts should not look to the U.S. Supreme Court when interpreting the state constitution, using the case to critique the nation’s highest court.
Eddins wrote that Hawaii’s Constitution provides stronger protections than the federal Constitution as currently interpreted, and that the U.S. Supreme Court has abandoned landmark civil rights principles.
He cited the court’s decisions on Dobbs, Citizens United, Rucho, Trump, and Bruen as evidence that constitutional protections have been weakened, and criticized the court’s approach to the Equal Protection Clause as ignoring its original purpose.
The opinion also suggested that recent Supreme Court decisions have expanded government power and wealthy interests while reducing individual rights, arguing that such a court does not provide a model for the Hawaii Constitution.
The opinion drew criticism for its unprecedented attack on the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court, with commentators describing it as lacking judicial restraint and decorum.
The opinion comes weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Hawaii’s “vampire rule,” ruling that the state could not require gun owners to obtain property owners’ permission before carrying firearms into businesses and other private property open to the public.
Justice Eddins has served on the Hawaii Supreme Court since 2020 after being appointed by former Governor David Ige.
