Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 2020 — ALM, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ALM,

STEVE

© steve@stevealmforprosecutor.com www.stevealmforprosecutor.com AGE: 67 I GCCUPATION: First Circuit Court Judge [Ret.] [ WHERE DID YOU GROW UP: Kaimukī, O'ahu SCHOOL[S) ATTENDED: University Lab School/Universlty of Hawai'i/University of Oregon CURRENT RESIDENCE: Kaimukī, O'ahu

1 ] I will create a culture at the Prosecutor's Office of high ethical standards and doing justice, treating all races fairly at all phases of the process: from case charging through plea agreements or trials, to appeal. Deputy prosecutors will undergo implicit bias training as I did as a judge. I will encourage expanding strategies that help Native Hawaiians and others. Research by Pepperdine and UCLA found that Native Hawaiians on HOPE Probation had their probation revoked and were sent to prison 35% less often than Native Hawaiians on regular probation. As the HOPE Probation judge supervises over 2,000 probationers at a time, that means hundreds of Native Hawaiians have succeeded on probation and avoided prison because they were in HOPE, rather than in regular probation. 1 chaired the 2015 Penal Code Review Committee whose recommendations led to eliminating mandatory minimums for small drug offenses. Hundreds of Native Hawaiians have since avoided prison and had a ehanee at treatment in the community. 2 ] I support expanding strategies for appropriate defendants that favor probation over prison. Research shows that drug/alcohol and/or mental health treatment is more effective in the community than in prison. Being smart on crime means expanding the use of research-proven strategies like Drug Court, Mental Health Court, and HOPE Probation. Implementing these strategies in pretrial and parole would help more people succeed on community supervision and lead to fewer, including many Native Hawaiians, going to, or going back to prison. It is also important to match people with the right treatment program. For those desiring a Native Hawaiian values-based approach, Ho'omau Ke Ola in Wai'anae is a good option. 3 ] The Honolulu Prosecutor has an important role and should be active and vocal in working with the other partners (Department of Public Safety (DPS), Attorney General, Department of Health (DOH), Public Defender, Treatment Providers, HPD, etc) to produce creative solutions to the COVID19 crisis. Case-by-case reviews by judges will help identity appropriate nonviolent inmates for release. A plaee to live and appropriate supervision should follow. DPS needs to step up and safely house its inmates. That includes regularly testing all Adult Corrections Officers (ACOs), civilian staff, current inmates, and any new admissions, as well as physical distancing, masking, and other hygiene measures. ACOs, like other first responders, should be housed in hotels to prevent their taking the virus home to their families, or bringing it back to OCCC. DPS should use spaces like gyms, courtyards, etc, and build temporary structures for quarantining for two weeks. If more space is needed they should look at National Guard Armories, Aloha Stadium, etc. Regular inspections of OCCC by DOH doctors, or those in private practice, should be done and publicly reported on. 4 ] Despite the Governor's emergency proclamation halting evictions, there are reports of landlords illegally pressuring tenants to leave before 9/30/20, when the moratorium currently expires. I will coordinate with the Attorney General's office to prosecute these cases. Those convicted of this misdemeanor may be given up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to S5,000. If landlords use eviction tactics that involve other criminal behavior (e.g. harassment, property damage), I will also prosecute those cases. Various agencies ean help tenants with their concerns, such as the State's Office of Consumer Protection, the Hawai'i Legal Aid Society, and various nonprofit agencies. A eall to Aloha United Way (phone: 211) ean help tenants figure out their options. Coordination between the Prosecuting Attorney and other agencies will ensure that eviction cases do not fall between bureaucratic cracks.