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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, April 17, 2005

Concern grows for inmates in Colorado

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

Twenty-one women lawmakers, including the leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees, are urging Gov. Linda Lingle to step up state monitoring of a troubled Colorado prison where Hawai'i women inmates are being held, and to look for another place to house those prisoners.

State Rep. Cynthia Thielen, who signed a letter to Lingle along with 20 other members of the Women's Legislative Caucus, said she has concluded the 80 Hawai'i women inmates at the Brush Correctional Facility in Colorado should be moved "immediately."

House Judiciary Chairwoman Sylvia Luke, who also signed the April 6 letter to Lingle, said she is concerned about reports that prison staff may be retaliating against Hawai'i inmates in the wake of allegations that members of the Brush prison staff were involved in sexual misconduct with inmates from Hawai'i, Colorado and Wyoming.

Michael Gaede, spokesman for the Hawai'i Department of Public Safety, said Hawai'i prison officials are not aware of any retaliation against the Hawai'i women inmates.

Two corrections officers at the prison have been charged with felonies for alleged sexual misconduct with inmates, and the former warden at the prison was charged with a felony as an alleged accessory in one of the sexual misconduct cases.

An investigation by Colorado prison officials at Brush concluded prison staff members were engaged in sexual misconduct with two inmates from Hawai'i, two from Colorado and four from Wyoming.

Wyoming corrections officials announced last week they will remove the last 38 Wyoming inmates now housed at Brush.

Gaede said Hawai'i has no immediate plans to remove its prisoners from Brush, but said the prison officials are studying other options the state may pursue when Hawai'i's contract with GRW Corp. expires on July 31.

GRW is a Brentwood, Tenn.-based company that owns and operates the Brush prison.

Gaede said the state published a request for proposals from prison operators last week to find what other prison companies are interested in housing the Hawai'i women inmates.

The letter to Lingle said the 21 women lawmakers are "deeply concerned" about reports from Brush, including the disclosure by Colorado officials that five convicted felons were hired to work at the prison because their employee background checks were never completed.

Thielen, R-50th (Kailua, Mokapu), said the announcement that Wyoming is removing its inmates led her to conclude Hawai'i should do the same.

"That makes me believe that we don't need a study, that we should move the women, so I'm hoping the director of Public Safety will take steps to do that immediately," she said.

Luke, D-26th (Punchbowl, Pacific Hts., Nu'uanu Valley), said it is up to the governor to decide whether to end the contract with the prison. However, "if they are going to continue to mistreat our inmates, than I don't think we can continue to have a relationship with Brush."

Five inmates from Hawai'i, two inmates' family members and two Brush prison employees have been charged with felonies in connection with an alleged cigarette smuggling operation at the prison, and Luke said she has been told inmates from other states who were also involved did not face criminal charges.

Kat Brady, coordinator of the Community Alliance on Prisons, said Hawai'i inmates have also said they have faced unfair administrative punishments, had legal records confiscated, and one inmate was fired from an inmate job, all acts that the inmates believe are retaliation.

"I am really happy that the Women's Legislative Caucus has stepped up to the plate to assist our women who are so far away from home, and we hope that something positive comes out of this because things are quickly disintegrating in Colorado," Brady said.

The investigation of the alleged cigarette smuggling was done by Colorado prison officials, and the decision to charge the inmates was made by a Colorado district attorney. The employees at the privately run prison did not decide who would be charged, Gaede said.

Gaede said the state is relying on Colorado state corrections officials for day-to-day monitoring of the prison. It was Colorado state prison officials who investigated the sexual misconduct allegations, and sent teams of state corrections workers to the Brush prison to help with staff training there.

However, Gaede said, Hawai'i has expanded its regular quarterly monitoring trip to Brush, which is scheduled for May from two days to four days, and has increased the size of the staff that will go on that trip from two to five to conduct a more thorough inspection of the facility.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.