Todd W. Eddins (born March 18, 1964)[1] is an American lawyer who has served an associate justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court since 2020.
In a 2006 sexual assault trial, Eddins successfully defended Jack Law, the owner of the world-renowned Hula's Bar & Lei Stand and a pillar in the LGBTQ+ community.
In a nationally followed case, Eddins represented Alison Dadow (also known as Alexandria Duval), who was accused of killing her twin sister by driving their car off the Hana Highway in Maui.
[9] The court agreed with Eddins, holding that under Hawai‘i law, a person is a “human who has been born and is alive.”[8] The high-profile case examined the ethical, scientific, and public policy issues that arose from the co-occurrence of pregnancy and drug dependency.
[12] At the time, Governor Linda Lingle's administration wanted to turn over management of the valleys to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
[17] On September 29, 2020, Governor David Ige s office announced Eddins was one of three candidates being considered for appointment to the Hawaii Supreme Court.
[18] On October 23, 2020, Governor David Ige announced Eddins as his appointment to the Hawaii Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Richard W.
In Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP v. Kim, Eddins’ opinion adopted conspiracy jurisdiction into Hawai‘i law.
[25] Eddins noted an effort by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to question personal jurisdiction law on originalist grounds.
Eddins observed that “International Shoe still fits” but cautioned that this effort risked major disruptions in settled law.
Eddins authored a unanimous opinion declaring that article I, section 17 of the Hawaiʻi Constitution creates only a collective, militia-based right to bear arms, not an individual one.
Eddins wrote that the Second Amendment was intended to preserve State militias, not “someone packing a musket to the wigmaker just in case.”[26] The opinion gained significant media attention for quoting the HBO hit series The Wire to show that the Constitution is not “caged” and that a backward-looking approach to the Constitution is ill-suited to contemporary times.
To constrain the value judgments of contemporary judges!”[25] At his confirmation hearing before the Hawaiʻi State Senate, Eddins called originalism “a silly way to interpret the law.”[33] His opinions have criticized originalists on the U.S. Supreme Court for cherry-picking history and getting the facts wrong to advance preferred policy preferences.
A justice’s personal values and ideas about the very old days suddenly control the lives of present and future generations.”[25] Insurer's Duty to Defend.
[38] Due to poor administration of the trust, thousands of Native Hawaiians waited decades but never received homestead leases.
[38] Self-represented plaintiff Rickey Rivera asked the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court to review his claim that he was eligible to receive a payout from the settlement.
[38] Eddins, writing for the court, expeditiously resolved Rivera's appeal, allowing payouts to reach the settlement beneficiaries.
Eddins’ opinion vacated an $834 million penalty that a Hawaiʻi circuit court imposed on Bristol Myers Squibb and Sonofi, makers of the anti-platelet drug Plavix.
[39] The State of Hawaiʻi had sued the companies, arguing that they concealed the fact that the drug didn't work as well in people with certain liver enzymes.
[39] Eddins reasoned that circuit court prematurely granted summary judgment on whether Plavix's label mattered to consumers and sent the case back for a new trial.