Youth facility must turn words into action

THE ISSUE A federal judge has ordered the state to stop abusing youth prison inmates who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

ALREADY under federal court order to provide humane treatment to its inmates, the state must establish new policies aimed specifically at protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender wards of the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility. The two orders within a month should put adequate pressure on the state to eliminate long-standing problems at the youth prison.

Federal Judge Michael Seabright instructed the state to hire a private consultant to oversee changes ordered at the Kailua facility. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the state last fall on behalf of inmates alleging the abuse. Seabright found that the guards had engaged in "verbal harassment and abuse," and supervisors "took no meaningful steps to remedy the situation."

The state agreed last month to comply with an agreement with the federal government to make "sweeping and comprehensive changes" in its treatment of inmates generally. The Justice Department reported in August that staffing and poor training of guards had created "a state of chaos." The state employs 98 people to take care of 50 boys and 12 girls ranging in age from 13 to 18.

First Deputy Attorney General Lisa Ginoza said Seabright's order to protect inmates from abuse related to their sexual preferences would be followed "aggressively." The state must choose the expert consultant this week and has two under consideration for the job.

The state has responded well verbally to the federal oversight, but it must turn words into action that has been absent in the past.