Seven inmates at the Hālawa Correctional Facility were transported to the hospital after a 911 call from the prison reported multiple inmates in need of emergency medical care.
The conditions at Hālawa and other correctional facilities statewide are currently under investigation as part of a settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit filed by Hawaiʻi inmates.
Reports of discolored drinking water, trash piling up, and unsanitized cafeteria tables at the Hālawa facility dominate daily conversations between this next man, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, and his son who’s incarcerated at Hālawa.
"For instance, like in the kitchen, they’re not sanitizing the tables. They don’t wear gloves when they pass out the food. The rubbish is piling up. When my son went to get water, the water came out discolored little orange color, and then a cockroach came out," the parent told Hawaiʻi Public Radio.
His biggest concern is that prison staff are not following COVID-19 guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, like mandatory quarantine for inmates who are infected with the coronavirus.
"They'll let out inmates who are positive with COVID ahead of time, and they'll let them go check their mail. Or they'll put them, they put the gentleman in the cell next to my son in the quad, and he was still tested positive. They’re not taking all the precautions they should to protect our loved ones," he said.
Public Safety Director Max Otani says the department is taking steps to address health and safety concerns raised by inmates, and that staff have been deployed for site inspections.
"You know, auditors to look at the health and safety, sanitation issues in the facilities. They’re coming up with recommendations for follow-ups," Otani said.
Former Public Safety Director Ted Sakai, who now sits on the state Oversight Commission for Hawaiʻi's Correctional System, says overcrowding remains a key challenge despite the commission’s own work in setting pandemic capacity limits for each state correctional facility.
"They're not able to follow their own procedures, much less the capacities we have set. And the capacities are more than just numbers. It relates to the conditions under which inmates are housed," Sakai said. "And so I think we have every right to intervene, I just donʻt know how to do it."
Conditions at correctional facilities statewide are under investigation as part of a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by Hawaiʻi inmates.
A five-member panel of medical experts, public safety officials, and a retired judge is set to begin site inspections as soon as this week.
But whether the Oversight Commission, which was set up to address grievances within the correctional system, will have access to the panel’s assessment is up in the air says Commissioner Martha Torney.
"The work of this panel, their reports are going to be confidential. I think that needs to be resolved. Because if their work is confidential, if their reports are confidential, what are we going to get?" Torney said.
