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THE SENATE |
S.R. NO. |
45 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO RETURN HAWAII PRISONERS HELD IN MAINLAND FACILITIES AND TO CONSIDER CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW PRISON, RE-ENTRY CENTER, OR OTHER CORRECTIONAL FACILITY ON THE BIG ISLAND.
WHEREAS, according to a 2010 report of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, entitled "The Disparate Treatment of Native Hawaiians in the Criminal Justice System", Native Hawaiians receive disparate treatment in the criminal justice system, and there is an overwhelming number of Native Hawaiian men and women incarcerated in prison in Hawaii and on the mainland; and
WHEREAS, incarceration affects not only an individual person, but everything and everyone connected to them; families are torn apart, children are left without their parents, and whole communities are dismantled; and
WHEREAS, Native Hawaiians make up twenty-four percent of the general population of Hawaii, but twenty-seven percent of all arrests, thirty-three percent of people in pretrial detention, twenty-nine percent of people sentenced to probation, thirty-six percent of people admitted to prison in 2009, thirty‑nine percent of the incarcerated population, thirty-nine percent of releases on parole, and forty-one percent of parole revocations; and
WHEREAS, Native Hawaiians receive longer prison sentences
than most other racial or ethnic groups, and Native Hawaiians make up the highest percentage of people incarcerated in mainland facilities; and
WHEREAS, incarceration is particularly traumatic for Native Hawaiians, especially when imprisonment is on the mainland; and
WHEREAS, for Native Hawaiians, the impact of trauma is particularly salient because of strong connections to family, the land, and community; and
WHEREAS, imprisoning people from Hawaii on the mainland exacerbates the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on Native Hawaiians because they are cut off from supportive communities and families that give them a reason to exit prison as soon as possible; even the absence of familiar surroundings and changes in the weather are traumatizing; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature believes that returning incarcerated persons, particularly Native Hawaiians, from the mainland is in the best interest of the State as well as the inmates themselves; and
WHEREAS, a problem for any plan to return incarcerated persons from the mainland is the lack of correctional facilities in Hawaii to house those returning inmates; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the Department of Public Safety is requested to return Hawaii prisoners held in mainland facilities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety consider construction of a new prison, re-entry center, or other correctional facility on the Big Island; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and University of Hawaii Center on the Family collaborate with and assist, as appropriate, the Department of Public Safety in making plans to return Hawaii inmates from the mainland and in planning for the construction of a new prison, re-entry center, or other correctional facility on the Big Island; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2012 on its progress toward bringing home Hawaii inmates from the mainland and constructing a new prison, re-entry center, or other correctional facility on the Big Island; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Public Safety, Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, and Center on the Family at the University of Hawaii.
Public Safety; Mainland Prisoners; Prison Facility on Hawaii