Editorials
Friday, May 24, 1996
Early release of prison inmates
is no solution
CITY Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro has blasted the Hawaii prison system's furlough policy and called for more prison space to house convicted criminals. He charges that convicts are being released too early, with the result that public safety is jeopardized. In addition, he says, the public and crime victims are losing respect for the criminal justice system.
In a recent article in the Star-Bulletin, Dennis Chun, chairman of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, expressed a similar view, declaring: "Our prison system is broken. Bed space, not justice, now determines our sentencing policies."
Overcrowded detention facilities force the early release of inmates. In some case, criminals spend no time in jail. The acting warden of the Oahu Community Correctional Center acknowledged that inmates convicted of misdemeanor offenses are immediately furloughed for lack of space to hold them. In one case, a man sentenced to 10 days in jail after his fourth drunk driving conviction didn't spend a minute behind bars.
It's a distressing situation, and it can only get worse unless Governor Cayetano relents and agrees to build more prisons. In addition, more must be done to develop alternative sentences to keep people out of prison who don't have to be there.
The administration's policy of sending inmates to Texas jails has provided temporary relief, but it is not a permanent solution. Even as a temporary measure, it has significant drawbacks. In particular, it makes it virtually impossible for the inmates to receive visits by family and friends, which can be important in rehabilitation.
But if Kaneshiro and Chun thinks it's bad here, they should consider Los Angeles. The county's jails are so overcrowded that the average convict serves less than 25 percent of his sentence before being released - about half the time he would have served four years ago. The Los Angeles Times says tens of thousands of inmates are walking out after serving little or none of their sentences behind bars.
It cites the case of one man who was placed on work release immediately after being sentenced to 90 days in jail for his eighth arrest for driving with a suspended license. "How can you take the system seriously?" the man asked.
Obviously you can't. It makes a mockery of the justice system and destroys the power to deter lawbreaking.It's happening in Los Angeles and to a lesser extent it's happening in Hawaii. And the state must come to grips with the problem.
Other editorials in brief:
Montana standoff
JITTERY from previous civil confrontations that exploded in disaster, the FBI has handled its standoff with a group of Montana fugitives with great care. Authorities have tried their utmost for two months to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the situation, but the self-proclaimed "Freemen" seem to have rejected any compromise. There are ways to tighten the government's grip on the Freemen's ranch without resorting to tactics that could backfire and create another bloodbath.
China's gun smuggling
CHINA'S credibility has taken another shot with the discovery of a ring smuggling assault weapons into the United States. Treasury agents seized 2,000 AK-47 rifles and arrested seven people in San Francisco. The guns were smuggled from China, and there is strong suspicion that the Beijing regime knew about the operation. The proliferation of firearms has become a major social problem, and whatever the smugglers' motive, the effect is destabilizing. Only the National Rifle Association could view this case without concern.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor