The '''legal status of Hawaii''' -- as opposed to its political status—is a subject of scholarly and legal debate. While Hawaii is broadly accepted as a state of the United States of America in mainstream understanding, there is some critique regarding the legality of the creation of this status. The viewpoint that Hawaii is an [[independence|independent]] nation under U.S. [[military occupation|occupation]] is circulated in academic circles, notably at the [[University of Hawaii]]; <ref>http://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/csq/article/hawaii-and-united-nations</ref> and in daily dialogue in Hawaii. The legality of control of Hawaii by the United States has also been brought up in cases in the U.S. Supreme Court,<ref>http://statehoodhawaii.org/2009/02/26/supreme-court-hears-ceded-lands-case/</ref> in U.S. District Court,<ref>http://hawaiiankingdom.org/sai-obama.shtml</ref> and in international legal actions.<ref>http://statehoodhawaii.org/2009/02/26/supreme-court-hears-ceded-lands-case/</ref> The results of these legal actions have not provided support for the viewpoint of Hawaii as an independent nation. Outside of Hawaii, this legal debate is relatively unknown.
