[ OUR OPINION ]
Habitual offenders
earn stiffer penaltiesGOVERNOR Lingle has proposed legislation to stiffen punishment of habitual thieves who too often are put back on the street after committing minor crimes. As property crimes increase, such recidivism is a growing problem and increased sentences seem to be an appropriate measure. Such a sentencing change will be beneficial if prosecutors can handle the increased caseload and find room for the offenders in Hawaii's crowded prisons.
THE ISSUE
Hawaii's prosecutors and police chiefs support a bill that would make misdemeanors committed by habitual offenders felonies.
Hawaii led the nation in 2002 in the number of thefts, with nearly 4,000 for every 100,000 residents, and it was among the top three states in overall property crime. Of the thieves who are caught, many are convicted of misdemeanors and put on probation so they can steal again.
The result, says Attorney General Mark Bennett, is "the creation of a revolving door of crime, followed by arrest, minor sanctions release and more crime. Hawaii's citizenry and police are fed up with this revolving door."
The bill proposed by the Lingle administration and backed by Hawaii's coalition of prosecutors and police chiefs would turn a property misdemeanor into a felony if it were the defendant's third property crime within a five-year period, regardless of whether the preceding two crimes had been misdemeanors or felonies. A person convicted for the third time would face a prison term of at least one year and as much as five years.
That would be fair and just -- unlike California's zealous three-strikes law -- if there are enough prosecutors and prison cells to go around. City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle complained two years ago that his office was unable to handle the high volume of cases referred by the police. Longer prison terms under the habitual- offender proposal undoubtedly would result in fewer guilty pleas; defendants would be more likely to go to trial with so much of their freedom at stake.
Carlisle says he is confident that stiffer sentences could actually reduce the caseload by removing the habitual offenders from the revolving door. The question is whether these habitual offenders would quickly return to the streets because of the lack of prison space, occupied too often by drug offenders who more properly belong in treatment programs. Creation of drug-treatment alternatives to prison are needed to make habitual-thief sentencing rules work.
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Plan for native lands
shows early promisePlans to integrate economic development with housing is an astute move by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The holistic approach blends the traditional concept of ahupuaa with the modern ideal of living and working in the same community while providing Hawaiians with the means to prosper. The department deserves kudos for adapting its program to better serve its beneficiaries.
THE ISSUE
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has worked out an agreement for commercial development of land on the Big Island.
The department's agreement to lease 200 acres of land in West Hawaii for commercial development adds assurances that it will continue to generate revenue to support its mission of providing homes for Hawaiians. The lease will yield at least $6.5 million through 10 years and $64 million through the 65-year term, the department says.
In addition, jobs the development will create could help Hawaiians qualify and maintain homes in an area where employment opportunities are lacking.
The department plans to build 225 more homes upslope from the project site to add to its existing inventory of 225 residences and hopes to acquire another parcel nearby to pare down the list of more than 5,000 Hawaiians on the Big Island who have been waiting to get homes.
The idea is to use the department's assets to become a major economic contributor on the island and elsewhere in the state and at the same time promote better living standards with health care, job training and cultural programs for Hawaiians through a nonprofit entity set up initially by the lessee, Kona Development Group.
The agency's projects also could benefit the larger community when it seeks federal grants and loans to help pay for infrastructure, such as roads. The department already has worked out an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to identify ways to mine federal funds to bear some of the financial burdens.
The project represents a change in how the department accomplishes its obligation. Instead of putting up pockets of houses here and there, the plan is to create so-called master communities where commercial enterprise supports residential elements. Oftentimes, people who want homes will decline an offer because there are no jobs in the area, the department says. The new plan hopes to resolve that problem.
