HSC Trashes “Gut and Replace,” Enters Thicket
League of Women Voters of Honolulu v. Hawai'i (HSC November 4, 2021) Background. In 2018, the Hawai'i State Senate introduced a bill, S.B. 2858. The Bill proposed to amend sections of Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 353 by requiring the Department of Public Safety to prepare annual reports to the Legislature about the rehabilitation of people released from prison. The purpose of the report was to collect data on recidivism rates. Aside from minor amendments, the bill passed three readings in the Senate and crossed over to the House, where it passed its first reading. At a hearing on the House Committee on Public Safety, the Department of Public Safety, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, various action committees like the Hawai'i Justice Coalition, the Community Alliance on Prisons, Young Progressive Demanding Action, and the ACLU along with individual people testified. Although most of the testifiers supported the bill, the House Committee recommended amendin...