“We will continue to send prisoners to the mainland and make certain they are in facilities that have appropriate programs and are well maintained.”
What she didn’t say:
From the earliest days of the Lingle Administration, the whole issue of criminal justice has focused on finding space for the increasing numbers of convicts the state and counties are locking away—especially with Attorney General Mark Bennett pushing for a Three Strikes Law that would mandate ridiculously long prison sentences for felons. But what if the real problem is that the state was just a little too quick to toss people behind bars, especially where drugs are concerned? It’s something to think about, especially given that the number of Hawai’i felons in mainland prisons—currently 1,844—is now sure to rise even faster.
-Anthony Pignataro
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