As a result of a unanimous decision by the Hawai'i Supreme Court last year, the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs' legal claims against the state for hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues related to ceded lands appeared to be dead.

The state has long acknowledged that it is obligated under the state Constitution to pay OHA money from ceded land revenues, but OHA contended that the state defined the sources of ceded land revenues too narrowly and maintained it is due the additional money. On Sept. 9, the high court affirmed Circuit Judge Gary Chang's dismissal of the OHA lawsuit.

But in a highly unusual move and at the request of OHA, the five-member high court issued a one-sentence ruling last month agreeing to reconsider its decision, essentially breathing life into OHA's hopes that its legal claims will be revived.