By Cliff Matias
Indian Country Today Media Network
Hwaii — On December 27th the Hawaiian justice system addressed the issue of Native Hawaiians being more likely to serve a prison sentence than any other ethnic groups in their home state, while taking a step in the right direction to fixing the issues.
A press conference was held at the state capitol featuring a nine-member Native Hawaiian Justice Task Force that addressed the disproportionately high number of Native Hawaiians who are incarcerated. The task force, formed by the Legislature, was given the task to come up with recommendations following a September 2010 report commissioned by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. That report showed that Native Hawaiians make up nearly 40 percent of those imprisoned by the state, 41 percent of the parole revocations but only 24 percent of the population.
“Native Hawaiians, in their homeland, are overrepresented in every stage of the criminal justice system. This is a tragic reality and cannot be denied,” said Matthew Broderick, chairman of the task force.
Full story: Addressing the Native Hawaiian Inmate Issue