[JURIST] A federal appeals court ruled [opinion, PDF] Wednesday that Hawaii taxpayers may sue to halt state funding of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs [official website] for purported discrimination against non-native residents [OHA press release]. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] unanimously overturned a lower court ruling and affirmed standing for any non-Hawaiian who may want to sue the state for discriminatory issues in Hawaiians-only programs. This is the second time in recent weeks the appeals court ruled against Hawaiian programs. In a ruling earlier this month [JURIST report], the court struck down a Kamehameha Schools [education website] preference for Hawaiian students, even though the school receives no federal money. AP has more.