ACLU raises concerns about crowded prisons
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief
The American Civil Liberties Union is again questioning prison and jail crowding in Hawai'i, with state prison chief Ted Sakai warning lawmakers that the state is "at risk" for a new lawsuit.
Officials are concerned there may be court challenges of crowded conditions at Halawa Correctional Facility and O'ahu Community Correctional Center, where three inmates are regularly housed in cells designed for one.
Sakai said the ACLU has also questioned "lockdowns" at OCCC, where inmates are sometimes confined to their cells because the prison is short-staffed.
"Lockdowns are equally of concern to correctional administrators because they lead to increased tension," Sakai told the House Finance Committee on Monday.
In 1984 the ACLU filed a lawsuit saying prison conditions were so poor they amounted to "cruel and unusual punishment."
That suit was settled when the state and ACLU entered into a federal court consent decree that governed operations at OCCC and the Women's Community Correctional Center.
The state was required to renovate buildings or build new ones, improve medical care and reduce inmate counts.
The decree was lifted in 1999.
"The state has gone back to where it was before," said Brent White, legal director for the ACLU of Hawai'i. "At some point we'll have to consider litigation."
White said lawmakers need to take "immediate steps" to reduce crowding, which he said should include using drug treatment in place of prison terms for addicts.
Sakai is asking for money to send another 250 inmates to privately operated prisons on the Mainland, which would bring the total number of Hawai'i prisoners in Mainland lockups to 1,500.
Prison officials are also asking for $31 million to expand the
Maui Community Correctional Center, which Sakai said is even more crowded than Halawa and OCCC.
