Hawaiʻi is the only state in the nation that does not have a compassionate release law, which allows inmates to be considered for release from prison for medical reasons.
Instead of having a law in place, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation only has an agency policy that advocates say is complicated and lengthy.
Those who are very sick or elderly have less than a 1% chance of reoffending.
Molly Crane with Families for Justice Reform said this population of people is also costly for the state to care for. For example, a person’s single prescription took up more than 90% of the department’s entire prescription budget for everyone in custody.
“We know that this small population, for whom there is limited to no public safety purpose of ongoing incarceration, causes a massive strain on the system and our state. But beyond the cost, we know that sick and dying people will benefit from compassionate release,” she said.
“Native Hawaiians are disproportionately represented among the incarcerated population, and we know that real people will benefit from changes to this system.”
The Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission is supporting a measure next legislative session that would codify a compassionate release program.
In the past, a similar measure was passed by the Legislature but vetoed by then-Gov. David Ige.
