Requiring law enforcement, court and corrections employees to receive training in "unconscious bias" and reinforcing Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s call to return all Hawaii prisoners from privately run facilities on the mainland are among 38 recommendations to address the disproportionately high number of Native Hawaiians who are incarcerated.
"Native Hawaiians, in their homeland, are overrepresented in every stage of the criminal justice system," said Michael Broderick, chairman of a task force that made the recommendations, at a news conference Thursday at the state Capitol. "This is a tragic reality and cannot be denied," said the retired Family Court judge.
The 28-page report, with 49 findings and the 38 recommendations, will be sent to the state Legislature.
The nine-member Native Hawaiian Justice Task Force was formed by the Legislature to come up with recommendations following a September 2010 report commissioned by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs that showed Native Hawaiians make up nearly 40 percent of those imprisoned by the state. Hawaiians make up 24 percent of the population.
Starting in July, the group held public meetings on all islands and with inmates at Halawa Correctional Facility, the Women’s Community Correctional Center and transitional facilities.
A common theme in the report is recidivism among Native Hawaiian inmates and ways to reduce it. Recommendations included expanding culturally based programs and requiring that inmates get state identification cards allowing them easier access to jobs, housing and other opportunities.
Other recommendations included increasing funding to the Public Defender’s Office, giving businesses that hire ex-offenders tax credits, bringing inmates now on the mainland back to Hawaii as soon as practical and prohibiting the state from sending inmates to the mainland in the future.
"The cultural dislocation of taking a Native Hawaiian and putting him in Arizona, where all (he sees) is cement, is not right, and that has to change," Broderick said. "We heard from people who were fundamentally affected by that."
OHA Administrator Kamana‘opono Crabbe, the task force vice chairman, said all Hawaii residents would benefit from the implementation of the recommendations.
"If appropriate programs are in place, we believe we can lower the recidivism rate and reduce the cost to taxpayers of the criminal justice system," he said. "This is not just about Native Hawaiians, but all offenders within the correctional system."
While there is an issue of fairness at play, Broderick said, the current situation affects everyone in Hawaii.
"When we have a disproportionate number of Native Hawaiians in prison, the Native Hawaiian culture disintegrates," he said. "The values and the spiritual contributions of Native Hawaiians, which are so strong, get lost."
Kat Brady, coordinator for the Honolulu-based Community Alliance on Prisons, said the recommendations are a step in the right direction in a state that has been slow to address the issue of a disproportionate share of people of color who are incarcerated.
She said research shows that children with a parent or parents who are incarcerated are six to seven times more likely to end up in prison themselves.
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To view the entire report, go to oha.org/nativehawaiianjusticetaskforce.
Correction: Michael Broderick is the chairman of the task force. An earlier version of this story and the story in the print edition had an incorrect first name.
