Dr. Melemaikalani “Mele” Moniz is a Kanaka ‘Ōiwi legal scholar whose research explores the intersection between western legal systems, environmental justice, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples to propose decolonial changes to laws and policies while working towards liberation. Born and raised under the malu of Ko‘olaupoko on the windward side of O‘ahu, her family lines come from Moku o Keawe, Nā Hono A‘o Pi‘ilani, and Moloka‘i nui a Hina. Dr. Moniz has a BA in English from Marist College, a JD from The Catholic University Columbus School of Law, an LLM in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from the University of Oregon School of Law, and a Doctorate of Juridical Science (SJD) in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.
While in her JD program, Dr. Moniz volunteered for the Honorable Edward H. Kubo, Jr. in the First Circuit Court of Hawai‘i, the New Orleans Public Defenders, and was a law clerk with the Family Law Unit of the Legal Aid Society of Hawai‘i as well as the Hawai‘i Immigrant Justice Center. Dr. Moniz was subsequently granted a First Amendment Fellowship at the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in Washington, D.C., publishing articles on the First Amendment freedom of speech and the religious freedom rights of Indigenous Peoples. After graduating with her JD, Dr. Moniz clerked for the Honorable Joseph E. Cardoza, the former Chief Judge of the Second Circuit Court of Hawai‘i, sitting on a criminal and civil docket with two specialty courts: Veterans’ Court and Environmental Court. She also clerked for the Honorable Kelsey T. Kawano in the Second Circuit Court of Hawai‘i, sitting on a criminal and civil docket with one specialty court: Veterans’ Court. Dr. Moniz then served as a Legislative Aide to the Honorable Senator Laura Clint Acasio, representing Hilo.
While serving as a Legislative Aide, Dr. Moniz became inspired to obtain an LLM in Environmental and Natural Resources Law at the University of Oregon School of Law. As an LLM student, she was then recruited by the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy program to pursue an SJD at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (IPLP program). The IPLP program awarded her the Williams Achievement Award, providing her with a full tuition scholarship, and offered her a Teaching Fellowship under the highly esteemed native legal scholar Professor Robert A. Williams. As his Teaching Fellow, Dr. Moniz taught Torts, Contracts, and Property Law to BA in Law and MLS students. She also served as a delegate to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and worked with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples José Francisco Calí Tzay. Dr. Moniz, after her SJD program, was honored with the Dean’s Achievement Award.
Upon returning to Hawai’i after obtaining her SJD, Dr. Moniz worked as a Trustee Aide to the Honorable Trustee Daniel Ahuna, representing Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. She is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, working with Abundant Intelligences, an Indigenous-led research program utilizing Artificial Intelligence based on Indigenous Knowledge systems.
Dr. Moniz’s scholarship has appeared in the University of Cambridge’s International Journal of Legal Information, in articles for the Freedom Forum (formerly called the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center), and in a conference proceeding. She has given lectures at the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, and at numerous other conferences worldwide.