Posted by Na Ohana on September 20, 2008 at 10:28am in Culture
What Do You Think About the Pa'ahao (Prisoners) In Arizona and Other States
Mahalo to all those that participated in this Discussion. We will keep this discussion open for any that would like to share thier Mana'o.
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I have been reading over these discussions especially to Aunty Lillian's comments. The rehabilitation and attorney representations of those in mainland prisons should be addressed if this is their right whether under federal or state laws. I am aware there is a contract between State of Hawaii (SOH) and other mainland states per information posted here.
I have been in a recent discussion just last night with a retired SOH Prison Warden, friend of my dad's from my hanabada days. Because we will be doing some networking between now and end of December on another community level regarding hawaiian gathering rights, I will discuss the concerns as posted here and I know I will get a straight answer. I will address the concerns of rehabilitation, possibilty of parole in the state they are currently housed at if it was their choice to stay away from old habits and inquire of rights to an attorney and address medical concerns. Is there anything else which is in need to be addressed? Please let me know as my discussion with "Uncle" will be primarily by e-mail until we do some hands on work in a few weeks or so as our schedule allows.
Although this area is not my current community involvement in what I provide in my mana'o, there must be a reason I am connecting with "Uncle" this month for we haven't seen each other for almost 40 years. And if this reason is also to provide some needed information for koko on Maoliworld aside from Uncle's need for my assistance on our current community concerns then...hey if I can get feedback from a former official who has ties to the "system" still, then why shouldn't I ask for sake of conversation? SMILE.
Uncle and I have briefly discussed prison issues and concerns in relation to his past employment. He's an "as a matter of fact" kind of guy yet in understanding of koko with much compassion - just like my daddy who has sinced passed now for over 20 years.
Under the laws of occupation the U.S. cannot forcibly remove any Hawaii national out of Hawaii and incarcerate them on the U.S. Continent. Lingle made a fatal assumptiion that Hawaiians had no religion but Christianity. We proved her wrong. The alleged State of Hawai'i violates this law by sending our Hawaii naiontals out of the country to the U.S. prisons where they are racially abused and even killed or sexually abused. The state pays minumum to house them in those private prisons and accepts lower standards from those prisons where they wouldn't be able to get away with it if the prisoners remained here in Hawai'i. It's time to tell the state to shove those private prisons where the sun doesn't shine and return our Hawaii nationals back to Hawaii.
When their term is up, the prisoners are released on the mainland and will have to find their way home on their own. There is no program for rehabilitation and when they are sick or injured; it could be months before they are seen by a specialist or a qualified doctor. There are some Hawaiians on the US continent that were helping the inmates regain a self-worth of who they are and promote the culture and heritage of Hawaii. They encourage the inmates to learn and respect their cultural beliefs and help them change their way of thinking to a more positive way.
They are now barred from visiting the inmates if they are not family to them and more restrictions have been employed to keep them from visiting the prisons. This is also condoned by the alleged state of Hawai'i. It's a shameful thing.
What we need to do is to insist that the state return our Hawaii nationals and if they want to send prisoners to the US, they cannot be Hawaii nationals regardless of ethnicity, but those of other nationalities (U.S., Pacific countries, Asians, Europeans, Canadians S. Americans, whatever).
Get active and demand the state return our people to Hawai'i.
Aloha from Arizona;
I am 'Aunty Lillian' and since the early 2000's we have been attending to the needs of the pa'ahao here in Arizona. Presently there are 2,000 kanaka maoli in the CCA private prison here in Eloy, there are other facilities holding women at Otter Creek KS but pretty much the majority of the male population is located here at Saguaro CCA in Eloy AZ.
Your son is in and out of the Washington State system, there are many here from WA State but not housed with our pa'ahao from Hawaii. Those who come from Hawaii are primarily kanaka maoli, we are now seeing a few (under 1%) other ethnicities, haole, popolo, pake, Japanese, who are not born on our aina. The way they manipulate the system is to slip in a few (very low %) who are not of our aina or ethnicity, that way they can honestly say they are not prejudiced or committing genocide when in reality since the majority are of our ethnicity & aina, the only word for what is being done is genocide.
Another good example is: If there are 2,000 inmates, and 125 beds assigned to substance abuse rehab, and 70% are incarcerated for this offense, then it would mean that 1400 inmates are substance abusers, but if there are only 125 slots for rehab it would take 1 man 11 years and 2 months before he could access the rehab program...the problem is that the contract between the State of Hawaii and Corporate Corrections of America does not have and exact number assigned to complete rehab in a specific amount of time...so in other words if the contract says there are 2000 inmates, of which 70% are substance abusers and (the exact number) 40% must complete rehab in 2 years or so, then 560 men would have access to rehab every 2.5 years. Now this makes sense..but the system isn't set up to make sense...it's set up to warehouse human flesh and to MAKE MONEY...
The same applies to a young boy who had a compound break of his index finger, they immediately sent him to the dispensary, put ice pack, gave him Tylanol and sent him to his cell. He kept requesting to see an orthopedic doctor, it took him 10 months to see the doctor and by then the finger was healed incorrectly. The doctor gave him 4 options but PSD in Hawaii said they will not pay for 'unnecessary' surgery, his options fell to 2 which is to leave it alone and bear the pain, or to amputate and have no pain.
Yes the treatment here is very to the letter of the contract and ambiguous, very vague and weakly interpreted. Filing a law suit is another matter. The attorneys in Arizona can't help because the inmate must have an attorney from the state that their offense took place in, and the lawyers in Hawaii can't do pro bono long distance...so it's a no win situation.
Many of the men would like to parole out here in Arizona where they won't fall back into old habits. We at Na Ohana are building safe places for them to come to, but it takes a lot of kala, effort, and support...and now the State of Hawaii refuses to allow the pa'ahao to be released here, they must return to Hawaii for 1 year prior to release...but the amount of beds available is next to none, so those who are ready to be paroled are not able to because there's no place to go to so we do the best that we can and Ke Akua makes sure that 'No One Gets Left Behind'.
Thank you for your input, please feel free to stay in touch so we can get good ideas on how to help our pa'ahao regardless of where they live. We are stewards of all things that Ke Akua blesses us with, it's our responsibility to take care of our wounded children of all ages, we are a people of pride, honor and dignity, the po'e haole tries to disassemble our standards with abusive chemicals, greed, and oppression. We cannot let this continue, we must take back what is rightfully ours, that was wrongfully taken from us...He Hawai'i Au...
Tane > Lillian U. HarwoodSeptember 22, 2008 at 8:15am
Aloha Lillian:
It's good to hear from you. You've really been doing a lot for our 'ohana over there. I know Andre ma went up last year for the Makahiki and workshop or something . God bless you in all you do. Keep us updated on Maoliworld as it may help those here as well to turn themselves around or think twice after knowing what goes on over there.
Replies
I have been in a recent discussion just last night with a retired SOH Prison Warden, friend of my dad's from my hanabada days. Because we will be doing some networking between now and end of December on another community level regarding hawaiian gathering rights, I will discuss the concerns as posted here and I know I will get a straight answer. I will address the concerns of rehabilitation, possibilty of parole in the state they are currently housed at if it was their choice to stay away from old habits and inquire of rights to an attorney and address medical concerns. Is there anything else which is in need to be addressed? Please let me know as my discussion with "Uncle" will be primarily by e-mail until we do some hands on work in a few weeks or so as our schedule allows.
Although this area is not my current community involvement in what I provide in my mana'o, there must be a reason I am connecting with "Uncle" this month for we haven't seen each other for almost 40 years. And if this reason is also to provide some needed information for koko on Maoliworld aside from Uncle's need for my assistance on our current community concerns then...hey if I can get feedback from a former official who has ties to the "system" still, then why shouldn't I ask for sake of conversation? SMILE.
Uncle and I have briefly discussed prison issues and concerns in relation to his past employment. He's an "as a matter of fact" kind of guy yet in understanding of koko with much compassion - just like my daddy who has sinced passed now for over 20 years.
Mahalo for allowing me to share...
When their term is up, the prisoners are released on the mainland and will have to find their way home on their own. There is no program for rehabilitation and when they are sick or injured; it could be months before they are seen by a specialist or a qualified doctor. There are some Hawaiians on the US continent that were helping the inmates regain a self-worth of who they are and promote the culture and heritage of Hawaii. They encourage the inmates to learn and respect their cultural beliefs and help them change their way of thinking to a more positive way.
They are now barred from visiting the inmates if they are not family to them and more restrictions have been employed to keep them from visiting the prisons. This is also condoned by the alleged state of Hawai'i. It's a shameful thing.
What we need to do is to insist that the state return our Hawaii nationals and if they want to send prisoners to the US, they cannot be Hawaii nationals regardless of ethnicity, but those of other nationalities (U.S., Pacific countries, Asians, Europeans, Canadians S. Americans, whatever).
Get active and demand the state return our people to Hawai'i.
I am 'Aunty Lillian' and since the early 2000's we have been attending to the needs of the pa'ahao here in Arizona. Presently there are 2,000 kanaka maoli in the CCA private prison here in Eloy, there are other facilities holding women at Otter Creek KS but pretty much the majority of the male population is located here at Saguaro CCA in Eloy AZ.
Your son is in and out of the Washington State system, there are many here from WA State but not housed with our pa'ahao from Hawaii. Those who come from Hawaii are primarily kanaka maoli, we are now seeing a few (under 1%) other ethnicities, haole, popolo, pake, Japanese, who are not born on our aina. The way they manipulate the system is to slip in a few (very low %) who are not of our aina or ethnicity, that way they can honestly say they are not prejudiced or committing genocide when in reality since the majority are of our ethnicity & aina, the only word for what is being done is genocide.
Another good example is: If there are 2,000 inmates, and 125 beds assigned to substance abuse rehab, and 70% are incarcerated for this offense, then it would mean that 1400 inmates are substance abusers, but if there are only 125 slots for rehab it would take 1 man 11 years and 2 months before he could access the rehab program...the problem is that the contract between the State of Hawaii and Corporate Corrections of America does not have and exact number assigned to complete rehab in a specific amount of time...so in other words if the contract says there are 2000 inmates, of which 70% are substance abusers and (the exact number) 40% must complete rehab in 2 years or so, then 560 men would have access to rehab every 2.5 years. Now this makes sense..but the system isn't set up to make sense...it's set up to warehouse human flesh and to MAKE MONEY...
The same applies to a young boy who had a compound break of his index finger, they immediately sent him to the dispensary, put ice pack, gave him Tylanol and sent him to his cell. He kept requesting to see an orthopedic doctor, it took him 10 months to see the doctor and by then the finger was healed incorrectly. The doctor gave him 4 options but PSD in Hawaii said they will not pay for 'unnecessary' surgery, his options fell to 2 which is to leave it alone and bear the pain, or to amputate and have no pain.
Yes the treatment here is very to the letter of the contract and ambiguous, very vague and weakly interpreted. Filing a law suit is another matter. The attorneys in Arizona can't help because the inmate must have an attorney from the state that their offense took place in, and the lawyers in Hawaii can't do pro bono long distance...so it's a no win situation.
Many of the men would like to parole out here in Arizona where they won't fall back into old habits. We at Na Ohana are building safe places for them to come to, but it takes a lot of kala, effort, and support...and now the State of Hawaii refuses to allow the pa'ahao to be released here, they must return to Hawaii for 1 year prior to release...but the amount of beds available is next to none, so those who are ready to be paroled are not able to because there's no place to go to so we do the best that we can and Ke Akua makes sure that 'No One Gets Left Behind'.
Thank you for your input, please feel free to stay in touch so we can get good ideas on how to help our pa'ahao regardless of where they live. We are stewards of all things that Ke Akua blesses us with, it's our responsibility to take care of our wounded children of all ages, we are a people of pride, honor and dignity, the po'e haole tries to disassemble our standards with abusive chemicals, greed, and oppression. We cannot let this continue, we must take back what is rightfully ours, that was wrongfully taken from us...He Hawai'i Au...
It's good to hear from you. You've really been doing a lot for our 'ohana over there. I know Andre ma went up last year for the Makahiki and workshop or something . God bless you in all you do. Keep us updated on Maoliworld as it may help those here as well to turn themselves around or think twice after knowing what goes on over there.
Mahalo ia 'oe,
Tane