Aloha Mr. Matsuoka, 

Mahalo for your mana'o.  How were those beers?  As you may already be aware, Kamehameha's Kanawai Mamalahoe was just a reiteration of laws that other ali'i had passed throughout the course of Kanaka Maoli history.  

The context for Kanawai Mamalahoe's passage was really the treatment of civilians during wartime - it really was jus in bello/humanitarian law (long pre-dating the Geneva and Hague conventions). 

It's place in the laws of our State can find themselves within the context of civil/human rights.  It is difficult to manage, however, because the last line of Kanawai Mamalahoe is "hewa no, make (Break this law and die)," which suggest capital punishment (which we do not have here).  

Your comment begs the greater question regarding the protection of the people, especially our most vulnerable populations and indeed, we can and should be doing better.  Perhaps we ought to draft a bill and push policy on better civil/human rights laws?  Mahalo nui loa.