Posted on: Wednesday, July 3, 2002

Mansho loses 'privileges'

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

State prison officials have moved former City Councilwoman Rene Mansho to a different part of the women's prison in response to complaints that she was getting preferential treatment during her first week of incarceration.

Department of Public Safety Director Ted Sakai yesterday said he began an investigation after The Advertiser informed him this week of complaints from two inmates and a Honolulu man who visited an inmate over the weekend at the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua.

Sakai said he ordered Mansho moved from a two-person, drug-treatment program cell to an 88-inmate, barracks-style "open dormitory." Sakai said Mansho was not undergoing drug treatment.

Mansho reported to prison last Wednesday after being sentenced to one year in jail and five years' probation for her conviction on felony theft charges. Mansho, 53, had pleaded guilty to first-degree theft of stealing at least $20,000 in city money and second-degree theft of stealing more than $300 of her campaign money.

The day Mansho reported to prison, WCCC warden John Kellam said, "She'll get no more or no less than others here."

But two inmates and a man who visited the facility over the weekend this week told The Advertiser that Mansho was receiving preferential treatment, such as:

• Gaining quick classification as a minimum-security prisoner.

• Being placed in a drug treatment program, bypassing other inmates who have been on its waiting list.

• Having her uniform delivered to her.

• Being allowed a visit from entertainer and friend Carole Kai during a time restricted to immediate family visitors.

Yesterday afternoon, Sakai said Mansho was moved to a part of the facility that better matched her custody classification as a new arrival. He confirmed that Mansho last week was placed in a unit designed for drug treatment, which he believes was inappropriate.

Inmate Nicole Gillespie wrote to The Advertiser to complain about Mansho's placement in the drug treatment facility. "Although she is not in the drug program, she occupies bed space that another inmate (such as myself) could utilize for the benefit of rehabilitation and being granted parole," Gillespie wrote.

Gillespie said she has been in prison for 11 months and has tried several times to have her file reviewed so that her custody level can be upgraded, without success. "I guess being a politician, even a corrupt one, has its advantages," she wrote.

Sakai said Kellam is on vacation until next week, so some of the questions about special treatment cannot be answered right away. "I wanted to resolve this one right away because there's a waiting list to get into the drug treatment program," Sakai said. "So I didn't want to deprive another inmate of a spot in the program."

Sakai said he had told officials at the women's prison in Kailua when Mansho was sent there that there should be "no special treatment" for the former lawmaker. He said he takes these allegations seriously. "We will take a very close look at how this all came about and we'll resolve it and make sure it never happens again."

Another inmate said in a telephone interview that it was frustrating to see Mansho receive privileges that others waited months to get. The woman declined to be named because she said she was afraid of repercussions for criticizing the administration.

The inmate said that Mansho appears to know that she will get special treatment. "She dances hula and smokes cigarettes, just like nothing, because she knows she has the higher-ups hands in her hands."

Sakai said he wants to make sure that all inmates are treated fairly. "I expect that all inmates will be treated the same, with dignity and respect."

Last Wednesday, Kellam said prison policy says inmates can be visited only by members of their immediate family.

Sakai confirmed that Kai visited Mansho and that he would be investigating why that was allowed to occur. Mansho is a longtime friend of Kai, who created the Great Aloha Run charity race, one of the activities that Mansho ordered her council staff to work on on city time.

Prison officials said the state has operated a women's prison on the Windward side since 1977 and the current facility was renovated and re-opened in 1993.

The operating capacity of the women's prison is 260 and there were 290 women housed there as of last Monday, corrections program coordinator Martha Torney said. Another 64 female inmates from Hawai'i are serving time in a central Oklahoma prison, Torney said.

Mansho was being held in one of four living units at WCCC, the Olomana Cottage. It has a capacity of 72, half of it set up in communal barracks-style rooms and the other half in cells, one of which Mansho shared with one other inmate. She has since been moved to a cottage with all open dormitory beds.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.