Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 1996 — Hawaiʻiʻs prisort system, big lie techniques [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiʻiʻs prisort system, big lie techniques

Moanike'ala Akaka Trustee-Hawai'i Crime and prisons like a cancer grip the naūon and state. Is there a way to address prison conditions without being targeted as "soft on eiime" or "indifferent to victims of eiime?" There is hardly an 'ohana not touched by the heartfelt sorrow of a loved one

incarcerated - and this without eondoning, in any manner, the actions that landed him/her in prison. How we treat prisoners is a test of our humanity and intelligence as a nation/state. Recently, probIems in Hawai'i's

prison system have made front page news. The "shackles and chains" used for weeks on Ulysses Kim and others reflects a barbarism unfit for a civilized society and is the subject of lawsuits. The brutality, physical and mental, must not be tolerated by the community or Governor Ben Cayetano. There should be "zero tolerance" to violenee of any kind in prison, whether it be guard against inmaie, inmate against inmate or guard against guard. I have received calls from families of prisoners concerned about their loved ones "deported" during the holidays in the middle of the night to Texas. Dan Foley, ACLU attorney, called the action "cruel ... inmates are being punished by being incarcerated but this holiday hi-jack transfer punishes their 'ohana." Though Hawai'i prison officials assure loeal press that eonditions and programs are better in Texas, visiting Southern Methodist University human

rights professor, Dr. Rick Halperin cited, "horrific conditions in Texas" and that Hawai'i inmates are being sent to one of the poorest areas in their state where there are three pending suits from Texas prisoners elaiming improper care, overcrowding, beatings and a laek of proper medical facilities. Meanwhile, Texas is warehousing hundreds

of prisoners from throughout America, besides Hawai'i's 300. This is a for-profit enterprise. Though overcrowding is a big problem, prison officials admit that 40 percent are incarcerated for vic-

timless drug-related crimes, and that this is a heahh problem and not a matter for the prisons. It would be more cost effective to promote drug treatment programs making available prison space for hard-core eiiminals. Officials say they're saving money by transfers to Texas, but the laek of drug treatment programs in or out of jail perpetuates society's drug problems. Unfortunately, officials chose a midnight roundup of 300 prisoners (majority Hawaiian) wearing rubber slippers with no blankets to freeze in Texas for the new year. Overcrowding gets media coverage in the prison system while the glaring laek of programs is completely ignored. Prisoners have mueh idle time while a big gymnasium and recreational room go unused. For art, there are pens, lined paper and attempts to smuggle in unlined paper, while watered down M & M candies are used for paint-col-ors. Pa'ahao are told they have

to choose between recreational time or showers! Are both not necessary? It appears that mueh of our Hawai'i prison system ends up being purely punitive with neither attempt nor incentive to "correct" behavior. These inmates will eventually be out on the streets again (there are those who would rather throw the key away). It is in the interest of their 'ohana and society that these prisoners eome back into the community rehabilitated. Prison is not supposed to be a plaee where people eome out worse than when they entered. "Our prison build-up has been a massive failure of public policy. We should not be surprised, as Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Officers Association of New York puts it: 'Building more prisons to address crime is like building more graveyards to address a fatal disease.'" (Nibs Stroup, Ka'ū Landing, January '96) Big lie techniques In response to 'ohumu kini (from Puku'I) "constantly eomplaining" of Billie Beamer and Rowena Akana - Boston Globe reporter, Thomas 01iphant writes - the essence of modern polkieal defamation consists primarily of following Big Lie Techniques: • Abbreviation of alleged information past the point of distortion. • Endless repetition of the libel. • Endless raising of questions that gradually degenerate into selfsupplied "answers." • Ritual condemnation of the victim's statement as a substitute for factual refutation. • Complete disregard of specific, sworn and unchallenged statements on all the big points as if they had never been made. Mālama pono. Ua mau ke ea o ka 'āina i ka pono.