Electronically Filed
Supreme Court
SCEC-16-0000330
21-APR-2016
11:55 AM
SCEC-16-0000330
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I
CRAIG SMALLWOOD, Plaintiff,
vs.
STATE OF HAWAI#I, Defendant.
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND JUDGMENT
(By: Recktenwald, C.J., Nakayama, McKenna, Pollack, and Wilson, JJ.)
On April 13, 2016, plaintiff Craig Smallwood
(“Smallwood”) submitted a document entitled “Plaintiff Craig
Smallwood’s Complaint in Accordance with and Pursuant to HRS 602-
5(2)(6); Statement of Jurisdiction; Motion for Emergency Order of
Protection/Injunctive Relief, Directed Verdict, and Summary
Judgment,” which was filed as an election contest complaint. On
April 18, 2016, defendant State of Hawai#i (“State”) filed a
motion to dismiss the complaint. Upon consideration of the
election complaint and the motion to dismiss, and having heard
this matter without oral argument, we set forth the following
findings of fact and conclusions of law and enter the following
judgment.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Plaintiff Smallwood is a Hawai#i resident.
2. On April 13, 2016, the court received a 117-page
document from Smallwood. The document was filed as an election
contest complaint.
3. In the document, Smallwood states, among other
things, that the Republican Party is attempting to “subvert,
remove, and over[]throw the constitutional powers of the office
of the [P]resident,” that Presidential candidate Ted Cruz is not
qualified to run for President of the United States and,
therefore, the Republican Party “is guilty of election fraud [by]
knowingly entering an illegal candidate,” that the Office of
Elections sponsors racism by serving “whites only,” and that
Governor David Ige is “responsible for bigotry and discrimination
being rampant within the [S]tate of Hawaii.”
4. Smallwood requests the following relief:
(a) “[That the] Hawaii state sheriff department
provide 24 hour protection [for Smallwood and his] immediate
family”;
(b) “That the GOP/RNC party be removed from the
Hawaii State ballot for the 2016 Elections”;
(c) “That the GOP/RNC tenure status of major
political party be revoked in the State of Hawai#i”; and
(d) That the court provide “[a]ny other measures
the court deems necessary or appropriate to address Hawaii’s
participation in congressional acts of sedition and attempted
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over[]throw of the United States of America”.
5. Smallwood cites Hawai#i Revised Statutes (“HRS”)
§§ 602-5(2) and 602-5(6) as conferring the court with
jurisdiction over the matter.
6. Defendant State moved to dismiss the complaint for
lack of jurisdiction.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. When reviewing a motion to dismiss a complaint for
lack of jurisdiction, the court’s review “is based on the
contents of the complaint, the allegations of which [the court]
accept[s] as true and construe[s] in the light most favorable to
the plaintiff. Dismissal is improper unless it appears beyond
doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of
his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Casumpang v. ILWU,
Local 142, 94 Hawai#i 330, 337, 13 P.3d 1235, 1242 (2000)
(internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
2. When considering a motion to dismiss for lack of
jurisdiction, the court need not accept conclusory or formulaic
recitations on the legal effects of the events alleged. Kealoha
v. Machado, 131 Hawai#i 62, 74, 315 P.3d 213, 225 (2013).
3. HRS § 11-172 (2009) governs election contests. HRS
§ 11-172 provides, in relevant part, that “[w]ith respect to any
election, any candidate, or qualified political party directly
interested, or any thirty voters of any election district, may
file a complaint in the supreme court. The complaint shall set
forth any cause or causes, such as but not limited to, provable
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fraud, overages, or underages, that could cause a difference in
the election results.”
4. HRS § 11-173.5 provides for contest for cause to
be filed in the supreme court involving primary elections,
special primary elections, and county elections held concurrent
with a regularly scheduled primary or special primary election.
5. HRS § 174.5 provides for contest for cause to be
filed in the supreme court involving general elections, special
general elections, special elections, or runoff elections.
6. HRS § 602-5 sets forth the jurisdiction and powers
of the supreme court.
7. HRS § 602-5(2) provides the supreme court with
jurisdiction and power “[t]o answer, in its discretion, any
question of law reserved by a circuit court, the land court, or
the tax appeal court, or any question or proposition of law
certified to it by a federal district or appellate court if the
supreme court shall so provide by rule[.]”
8. HRS § 602-5(6) provides the supreme court with
jurisdiction and power “[t]o make and award such judgments,
decrees, orders and mandates, issue such executions and other
processes, and do such other acts and take such other steps as
may be necessary to carry into full effect the powers which are
or shall be given to it by law or for the promotion of justice in
matters pending before it.”
9. Taking Smallwood’s allegations as true and viewing
them in the light most favorable to him, Smallwood fails to
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demonstrate that this court has jurisdiction over his complaint
or the relief he seeks.
JUDGMENT
Based upon the foregoing findings of fact and
conclusions of law, judgment is entered dismissing the complaint.
The clerk of the supreme court shall process the
election contest without payment of the filing fee.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, April 21, 2016.
/s/ Mark E. Recktenwald
/s/ Paula A. Nakayama
/s/ Sabrina S. McKenna
/s/ Richard W. Pollack
/s/ Michael D. Wilson
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