Posted on: Tuesday, June 15, 2004

EDITORIAL
Do not let youth facility report linger

Gov. Linda Lingle's commendably swift action last August in response to a critical report on conditions at the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility could be tainted if she does not respond with equal alacrity to the latest complaint about the facility.

The August report came from the American Civil Liberties Union Hawai'i chapter, which found a pattern of "egregious" conduct at the youth facility by staff members there.

The report was conducted with the cooperation of state officials.

In response, Lingle reassigned several top officials at the facility and promised to get to the bottom of the ACLU's complaints.

But in a letter to Lingle this week, the ACLU says it has, in effect, been stonewalled in its efforts to get more detail about alleged conditions at the facility.

This means, the ACLU says, that it does not know whether its proposals for reforms and improvements have been taken seriously, implemented or ignored.

This is a case where an outside agency is willing to work with the state toward improving one of its own institutions. It is a far preferable approach to lawsuits, restraining orders or even court-supervised management that has too often been the case.

The task now is to get the improvement program for the youth facility back on track. Not only will it avoid the possibility of court intervention, it will help the state honor its obligations to the youngsters in its custody.