STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1032

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 72

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 72 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO RETURN HAWAII PRISONERS HELD IN MAINLAND FACILITIES AND TO CONSTRUCT A NEW CORRECTIONAL FACILITY AT PANAEWA NEAR HILO,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Public Safety to return Hawaii prisoners held in mainland facilities, and to construct a new correctional facility at Panaewa near Hilo; and

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Hawaii Paroling Authority, University of Hawai‘i System, Community Alliance on Prisons, and American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i.

     Imprisoning people from Hawaii on the mainland exacerbates the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on some Native Hawaiians because they are cut off from supportive communities and families that give them a reason to exit prison as soon as possible.  Even the absence of familiar surroundings and changes in the weather can be traumatizing.  For Native Hawaiians, the impact of trauma is particularly salient because of strong connections to family, the land, and community.

     Your Committee believes that returning incarcerated persons, particularly Native Hawaiians, from the mainland is in the best interest of the State and the inmates themselves.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting references to the construction of a new correctional facility specifically at Panaewa on the Big Island;

     (2)  Request the Department of Public Safety to consider construction of a new prison, re-entry center, or other correctional facility on the Big Island;

     (3)  Amending its title accordingly; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 72, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 72, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair