40 percent: OHA report finds Native Hawaiians disproportionately represented in Hawaii prisons

HONOLULU—An Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) report finds that Native Hawaiians are disproportionately represented in Hawaii’s prison system.

The report, titled “The Disparate Treatment of Native Hawaiians in the Criminal Justice System,” showed that while Native Hawaiians make up 24 percent of the general population in the state, they represent 39 percent among those incarcerated.

The report was written at the request of the Hawaii State Legislature and was compiled through research by the Washington, D.C.-based Justice Policy Institute (JPI), the University of Hawaii, and Georgetown University.

“What you see from this report is that we need more open conversation and figure out the mechanisms by which this disproportionate representation happens, and that’s something we don’t know right now; the mechanisms by which it happens,” Jim Spencer, a professor of urban planning at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, told KITV4 News.

Overall, OHA’s report looked at the impact of the criminal justice system on Native Hawaiians. While detailing how Native Hawaiians are disproportionately impacted at various stages of Hawaii’s criminal justice system, the report also includes first-hand accounts of Native Hawaiian concerns with the criminal justice system and how it affects their families and their culture.

Of the people serving a prison term in Hawaii, approximately 50 percent are housed in facilities on the continental United States. Of this population, about 41 percent are Native Hawaiian, the most highly-represented group. While incarcerated out of state, prisoners are further disconnected from their communities, families, and culturally appropriate services for re-entry OHA said.

The study also found that Native Hawaiians do not use drugs at drastically different rates from people of other races or ethnicities, but Native Hawaiians go to prison for drug offenses more often than people of other races or ethnicities. And once released from prison, Native Hawaiians experience barriers that prevent them from participating in certain jobs, obtaining a drivers license, voting, continuing education, obtaining housing, and keeping a family together.

OHA said that without a sufficient number of culturally appropriate services, Native Hawaiians are not given the best chance at achieving success upon re-entry into the community. OHA provided a number of recommendations to reduce the unfair impact of the justice system on Native Hawaiians by reforming Hawaii’s criminal justice system to embrace the cultural values of Native Hawaiians; funding community-based alternatives to incarceration; and removing barriers to education, housing, employment, and parental rights.

OHA also recommends establishing a task force that will review the findings and recommendations of the report, and formulate policies and procedures to eliminate the disparate treatment of Native Hawaiians in the criminal justice system. Members of the task force would include OHA, government agencies, legislators, prosecutors, public defenders, the state attorney general, the judiciary, public safety and probation officials, the police, a former prisoner, and treatment providers. 

“This crucial research shows the need to address the unfair treatment of Native Hawaiians in our state’s criminal justice system,” said Clyde Namuo, OHA’s chief executive officer. “Native Hawaiians make up almost 40 percent of the population in Hawaii’s prisons and jails. We are more likely to be sent to prison, and for longer periods of time, than nearly every other racial or ethnic community in Hawaii. OHA strongly supports a fair justice system and this study sets the course for change.”

To read the Executive Summary and the full report of “The Disparate Treatment of Native Hawaiians in the Criminal Justice System” click here. For more information from the Justice Policy Institute on racial disparities and efforts to reduce the number of people affected by the criminal justice system, visit www.justicepolicy.org.