From Council of State Governments Justice Center

There is consensus among policymakers in Hawaii that the state needs to reduce its dependence on out-of-state prisons, where, as of 2011, approximately one-third of the state’s adult prison population is housed. At the same time, state leaders are determined to reduce violent crime, which, like the state prison population, has increased significantly over the last decade.

Governor Neil Abercrombie, Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, Senate President Shan Tsutsui, House Speaker Calvin Say and Department of Public Safety Director Jodie Maesaka-Hirata seek to employ a data-driven justice reinvestment strategy to bring out-of-state prisoners back to Hawaii, reduce spending on corrections, and reinvest savings generated in strategies that would reverse recent crime trends.

To this end, they sought assistance from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Pew Center on the States. The state leaders agreed to establish a bipartisan, inter-branch Justice Reinvestment Working Group comprising leading state and local officials which would receive intensive technical assistance from the Council of State Governments Justice Center, in partnership with the Pew Center on the States. The CSG Justice Center will assist the working group in analyzing data and developing a comprehensive set of policy options.

Download the Overview (.pdf)

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Related: Judge Steven Alm: Justice Reinvestment and the future of HOPE Probation