Harrell v. City and County of Honolulu
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
283 F. App’x 509 (2008)

- Written by Darius Dehghan, JD
Facts
Matthew Harrell (plaintiff), an African-American man, was not offered the position of bassoonist in the Royal Hawaiian Band (band). Subsequently, Harrell brought a race-discrimination claim against the City and County of Honolulu (city) (defendant). The city filed a motion in limine, seeking to exclude evidence relating to a magazine article and a book. Both the article and the book focused on the historic role of African-Americans in Hawaii. The district-court judge partially granted the city’s motion in limine, excluding the article and all but a single excerpt of the book. The excluded evidence did not directly address the band or the time period during which Harrell auditioned for the band. The jury ruled in favor of the city. Harrell appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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