Halt new OCCC plan; focus on reforms

How much more will consultants profit at the expense of taxpayers and those most affected by Hawaii’s shortsighted criminal injustice policies?

In 2010, the state spent over $14 million to build a new jail complex on Maui, then suddenly stopped when the community raised concerns and advocated for alternatives to incarceration. Now the state is spending $5.3 million for Architects Hawaii, New Jersey Consultant Louis Berger U.S., Inc., and other subcontractors to plan for a new jail to replace the Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC). This covers only the initial planning phase of the project.

The state estimates that building a new OCCC will cost more than half a billion dollars. It is likely that actual construction costs will rise substantially from there — think rail! Moreover, this estimate does not include the cost of operating and maintaining the new jail.

Given the impact of this proposed public works project on our people and taxes for the next half-century or more, it behooves community members to become involved and voice their concerns.

The state’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on this project is online (dps.hawaii.gov/occc-future-plans), and the community may submit comments and questions by Jan. 8.

Although the Draft EIS is voluminous, it does not address the underlying criminal justice policies that drive overcrowding. Nor does it identify criminal justice reform as a cost-effective alternative to building a new jail.

Hawaii’s leadership could seek further assistance from the Council of State Governments Justice Center to reduce jail and prison overcrowding, save money, and decrease recidivism rates. Many states utilize this agency to help address incarceration problems — yet our state, in its response to the Oct. 26 EIS notice, admitted that it “has not contacted the Council of State Governments Justice Center since it issued its last report in 2013.”

Hawaii has also admitted that it has failed to consult with jurisdictions that are enacting Smart Justice policies, such as New Jersey, New York and California. Through data-driven reform strategies, these states have reduced their imprisoned populations by the thousands, while simultaneously reduced crime rates. Some strategies adopted in these states include sentencing changes; jail diversion programs; speciality courts; increasing community-based mental health, medical and substance abuse treatment services; and probation and parole reform. (See http://sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Fewer-Prisoners-Less-Crime-A-Tale-of-Three-States.pdf.)

We could learn from these states to find the best solutions to our incarceration challenges. Instead, Hawaii’s leaders and lobbyists pushing for a new jail are eschewing criminal justice reform.

Assuming that a new jail is built five to seven years down the road as proposed, this project will do absolutely nothing to address overcrowding now. And as the state and its consultants make clear, a new OCCC will not bring prisoners back from Arizona because jails and prisons are not the same kind of institutions.

Nor will this new jail prevent overcrowding in the future. As the Draft EIS acknowledges, the preferred site provides “potential for expansion.” Consider what “potential for expansion” suggests.

While other states, through bipartisan efforts, are reducing their incarcerated population, and saving millions of dollars by downsizing jails and prisons, our state is planning to build a new jail and allow room for expansion.

The good news, however, is that it’s not too late for Hawaii’s leaders to move the needle in the right direction, and halt the OCCC jail planning. With the assistance and recommendations of the Council of State Government, criminal justice reform experts, our own task forces focusing on alternatives to incarceration, pre-trial best practices and reducing the disparate treatment of Native Hawaiians in the criminal justice system, we can reduce jail and prison overcrowding.

In doing so, we will unlock tremendous taxpayer savings, and build a safer, more just community.

Carrie Ann Shirota is an attorney and a member of the Hawaii Justice Coalition.