PRISON SERIES

THANKS FOR SHEDDING LIGHT ON GROWING CRISIS

Mahalo to The Advertiser for dedicating so much time, effort and space to the complexity, cost and ramifications of incarceration on our communities. As stressed throughout the various articles, the costs are more than financial and directly or indirectly impact all of us.

Though the situation is complex, there are proven and effective ways to create safer and healthier communities for everyone. The vast majority of offenders will be released back into the community. The Bureau of Justice has recognized this and has included offender re-entry as a part of its mission. They know that it is not enough to just incarcerate offenders. We have the responsibility to plan for re-entry. The federal government has recently invested more than $120 million in designing and carrying out adult and juvenile justice re-entry strategies throughout the country.

Research shows that successful re-entry programs lead to less recidivism, less crime, fewer victims and increased public safety. We have the knowledge and experience to create successful transitional programs for offenders. Best practices have been defined and proven approaches exist. Restoring people's lives makes for good public safety.

We need to be smarter about how we address this growing crisis. We cannot continue to do what we are doing and expect to get different results.

INCARCERATION IS MEANT TO BE DREADFUL, HARD

As I read about the history and opinions concerning Hawai'i's prison dilemma in your series on prisoners, these words came to mind: "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay!"

Certainly, these are the sentiments being felt by many of Hawai'i's criminals who have been shipped abroad.

What were they thinking? Prison was going to be a picnic in the park? All relationships would carry on as if nothing happened?

Being incarcerated is supposed to be a dreadful, hard and lonely experience, a place where they don't want to return. If sending our overpopulated prisoners abroad will accomplish that objective in the most cost-effective manner and train them in lawful and acceptable work and behavioral skills for re-entry, then hana hou!

Regretfully, family members, especially keiki, have to suffer and lose out on years of direct contact, but put the blame for this hardship with the lawbreakers. Prison overpopulation is the fault of criminals and goofy laws that force the state to provide felons with special and oftentimes more rights and benefits than law-abiding citizens have.

BEV HARBIN

Just give representative chance to rebuild life

Let's review, first, all you hatemongers who are throwing rocks at Rep. Bev Harbin because of her misfortunes. I was there when her business, representing years of blood, sweat and tears, was taken away by our "wonderful" judicial system without proper due process.

When she proved the authorities had no right to do that, they said, "Oops, we made a mistake! So sorry! ... It is too late now; you'll just have to live with losing everything you built," and shoved her back into "the system."

So don't continue to kick her in the teeth when she's down. She's trying to rebuild her life and recover from her losses. Some of us have been there at one time or another and you know it. So lay off.

If you live in a glass house, you ought not throw stones. I pray a higher power comes through for her in spite of all of you.

BEACHBOY CONTRACT

CITY FOLLOWED LAW FOR CONCESSION BIDDERS

Your Sept. 30 editorial "Beachboy contract fails the common-sense test" rightly portrays the fact that the city followed the law now on the books in awarding a beach concession contract to Star-Beachboys Inc. By law, the city must award the concession contract to the highest qualified bidder. And, in this instance, Star-Beachboys was that bidder.

You also correctly point out the fact that Star-Beachboys executives are in federal court for failure to pay taxes on income earned under a previous contract. Yet, the Internal Revenue Service granted them a tax clearance, an upfront requirement of the city of all bidders to qualify for this particular concession.

If this does not make sense, perhaps what is needed is a change is the current state procurement law.

The Hannemann administration stands ready to work with state lawmakers to close whatever loopholes now exist so that these kinds of situations where both the bidder and the city follow the law do make sense in the future.

HOMELESS

WE CAN DO MORE TO FIND PERMANENT SOLUTION

Our household read with amazement the Sept. 30 story "Homeless may lose Saturday meal" by Mike Gordon.

The dozens of men, women and children (yes, children) living in Ala Moana Park, who are constantly being harassed by law enforcement officers and park employees, are not having their needs met by state, city and county programs paid for with taxpayer funds. Could it be that the greatest portion of these funds is being eaten up by administrative costs?

The homeless are most grateful for folks like Sharon Black who give 100 percent to help these beautiful people.

Our household does what we can to offer some hope and relief. Many times the food we take to the park is the first meal the person has had in days.

Can we learn anything from other communities around the world in finding a permanent solution to this challenge rather than making the lives of the homeless more uncomfortable? Wouldn't it be wonderful if Hawai'i were on the cutting edge of really doing something for these people?

NORTHWESTERN ISLANDS

ENFORCING BAN WOULD TAKE MONEY, SHIP CREWS

A ban on fishing in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is a great deal easier said than done. As far as I am aware, the state of Hawai'i has absolutely no means to enforce any such ban.

I don't think the U.S. Coast Guard or the National Marine Fisheries Service can legally enforce Hawai'i law.

Speaking as an experienced professional mariner, patrolling the 1,200 miles of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands would require one or two 150- to 200-foot high-speed, long-range patrol ships similar to the Coast Guard's enhanced Island Class Cutters. Operating and maintaining these ships, and boarding violating fishing vessels would each require a full-time 18- to 20-man crew.

In addition, the state of Hawai'i would need one or two long-range, multi-engine patrol aircraft, such as the C-130, or the P-3 Orion, plus flight and maintenance crews.

I am guessing that the cost would run a few hundred million dollars, to start. And the operating and maintenance costs would be a good deal more.

WIND FARM

HOW'S YOUR BACKYARD?

Perhaps Sandra M. Barker of Hawai'i Kai (Letters, Oct. 1), should encourage the mayor and HECO to construct a wind farm on the ridges above her neighborhood.

She could then enjoy the "beauty of their gracefulness in appearance" every day.

CONVICTION RATES

PROSECUTOR'S RECORD MISLEADS

Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle's efforts to discredit Advertiser reporter Rob Perez's thoughtful articles on the abysmal conviction rate by the Honolulu prosecutor in contested felony cases must not go without a response.

Carlisle chooses to misuse statistics to claim how wonderful his office is because he has an overall 97 percent conviction rate. He arrives at this conviction rate by including all of the guilty pleas in felony cases. Rob Perez rightly excluded these pleas in evaluating Carlisle's office because even a totally incompetent prosecutor would get an extremely high percentage of convictions by counting guilty pleas.

There are legitimate concerns over the poor showing of Carlisle's office in contested felony trials.

First and foremost is that either Carlisle is charging a large number of innocent persons with felonies or a large number of felons are being acquitted or convicted of lesser offenses than they should be because of serious problems within the prosecutor's office or the Honolulu Police Department. These problems are: