INVEST IN EFFORT TO STOP CRIME RATHER THAN NEW JAIL

The Hawaii Department of Public Safety is proposing to build an
835-bed jail in Puunene. Before spending $250 million of our tax
dollars, we must assess whether this will get us the most public
safety for our limited funds. The U.S. prison population has exploded
in the last three decades. We now hold 25 percent of the world's
prisoners but only 5 percent of the world's people. We incarcerate
more citizens per capita than any other country in the world. Yet few
people know how this huge portion of our tax dollars is being spent.

Myth: Hawaii's jails and prisons keep dangerous criminals off the street.

Fact: 85 percent of women and 63 percent of men incarcerated in
Hawaii (and Mainland prisons) are nonviolent drug and property crime offenders.

Hawaii leads the nation with 37 percent of incarcerated youth held
behind bars because of status offenses (truancy, curfew violations,
incorrigibility, running away, etc). It costs us well over $119,000
per year to incarcerate a youth, not including education or mental
health services.

Myth: Giving tough sentences to drug dealers will reduce the use and
sale of illegal drugs.

Fact: The war on drugs has cost the U.S. $42 billion so far this year
yet illicit drugs are more available than when this policy began.

Myth: Prison is an effective deterrent to crime.

Fact: For 85 percent of inmates either drugs or alcohol were involved
in their crime. People with drug addictions or under the influence
simply do not consider the consequences of their actions.

Myth: Inmates receive drug treatment in prison.

Fact: Less than 15 percent of inmates receive treatment.

Myth: Prison doesn't cost us much money.

Fact: DPS' budget has almost doubled in the last 10 years. A
five-year prison term costs us $200,000.

Myth: The Puunene jail would be financed by capital improvement
project bonds, so if we don't borrow money to build the jail, the
money will be lost. So the suggestion to use the money for education
instead is invalid.

Fact: Bonds, like all loans, must be repaid. $250 million for a new
prison will cost us $20 million in debt servicing and $27 million in
operating costs per year - which absolutely decreases funds available
for education.

Myth: Shipping Hawaii's inmates to Mainland private prisons is a
cost-effective way to deal with prison overcrowding.

Fact: In the cost analysis for private prisons, transportation and
extra costs families of prisoners must bear aren't factored in. There
are also moral questions: Israel's supreme court recently ruled that
private, for-profit prisons severely violate prisoners' basic human
rights to dignity and freedom. Corrections Corporation of America's
(which runs Hawaii's Mainland prisons) annual report shows a
declining occupancy rate, which the report complains "could cause a
decrease in revenue and profitability." Private prisons have no
incentive to rehabilitate inmates as it curtails profits. For the
third quarter of 2010, Hawaii taxpayers contributed to CCA generating
a net income of $42.0 million.

Myth: Hawaii's judges decide the lengths of sentences.

Fact: While the judiciary sets the maximum lengths of sentences,
Hawaii Paroling Authority sets the minimum. There are no educational
or professional requirements to be a member of this panel. Members
are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

Myth: Repeat offenders aren't responding properly to incarceration
and should be put away for even longer.

Fact: There are no respected psychological or criminological theories
that claim that punishing a person who is addicted to drugs, has
serious psychological problems and few marketable job skills, with
extended incarceration will transform them into a law-abiding citizen.

Instead of continuing on this exorbitantly expensive, destructive
path there is another option. Justice Reinvestment is already helping
12 states take tax dollars out of the bottomless pit of incarceration
and reinvesting resources in the communities from which most offenders come.

Council Member Gladys Baisa (developer of MEO's BEST prisoner
reintegration program) will transmit a resolution in support of
Hawaii partnering with the Justice Reinvestment program. Please come
to Council Chambers at 9 a.m. Tuesday and support this measure, which
will save us money and return integrity to the criminal justice
system of Maui and all of Hawaii.