Strengthen jail management • Rep. Hofschneider says building new corrections facility are not enough to address prison problems

Unfazed by the heat generated from the spate of inmates’ escapes in the last 19 months, the Prison Task Force is moving ahead with a comprehensive plan aimed at improving jail conditions and easing overcrowding in existing correctional facilities.

Task Force Chairman Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider conceded the protests by inmates against the Division of Corrections are within their constitutional rights and must be taken by the government in light of its efforts to meet standards stipulated under a recent consent decree forged with the U.S. Department of Justice.

He said these are “constructive criticisms” that should be looked at in their totality whether the government provides minimal standards, rights and protection to DOC inmates.

“People who fail to accept constructive criticisms are a problem to begin with,” Hofschneider said in an interview. “We should look at the complaints whether that is a responsibility of the government to provide for those requests.”

Last month, three inmates wrote to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio to justify a recent jailbreak complaining inhuman conditions in the prison, including dirty bathroom and toilet, insect-infested cells and lousy food — situations acknowledged by the local chief executive.

They also initiated a petition signed by a dozen other prisoners calling for the ouster of three DOC officials, including Director Greg T. Castro, who they had accused of incompetence.

While Public Safety Commissioner Charles W. Ingram refused to back down, inmates have threatened to escape again in the future unless the government heeds their demands.

Hofschneider said the situation does not mean inmates are holding CNMI hostage with their threats. “The critical part that we must all come to realize is that the community has become somewhat complacent in accountability,” he said.

The Justice department, which in February reached an agreement with the island government to bring correctional and detention facilities here to constitutional standards under the consent decree, is aware of the recent developments.

“These people are well experienced in their field and to react like we are reacting doesn’t do anybody any good. There is a plan and that’s the consent decree. There is a commitment,” said Hofschneider.

Prison plan

The deal, which stemmed from a federal lawsuit alleging unsanitary and inhuman prison conditions on the island, requires the CNMI to develop short and long-term plans for complying with the terms stipulated in the decree, including structural improvement and administration.

The government immediately began work on the comprehensive plan, such as construction of new structures to meet conditions of the decree as well as building bigger facilities to decongest the jail and accommodate the growing population.

According to Hofschneider, the agreement does not state demolition of existing facility, but the task force agreed to construct new buildings to replace the old ones.

The Tenorio administration has already appropriated some $8.84 million under the capital improvement projects to undertake the jail’s initial construction phase.

The amount includes funding for the adult prison, crime lab, immigration detention facility and juvenile facility. The total project cost will reach more than $17 million.

But Hofschneider maintained putting in place these facilities is only a small portion of the actual plan as it involves policies and procedures in the long term that must be enforced to effectively administer the prison.

“It is inadequate to build a new facility when you have insufficient policies and procedures on hand,” he said, adding training is being conducted for DOC personnel with the assistance of the National Institute of Corrections to remedy deficiencies.

In the meantime, construction is ongoing in the three facilities — the juvenile detention in Kagman, the DOC compound in Susupe and the immigration detention near the airport.

Almost 60 percent complete, the first facility located at the back of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles is expected to be available next month.

Once it is operational, the task force will push forward with the new Susupe prison. It is now soliciting proposals for architectural and engineering design, and the design work will begin in January.

“We are on time and on top of the conditions set forth in the decree,” said Hofschneider.

Asked if the string of jailbreaks — four incidents since April last year under Ingram’s leadership — and the prison standoff last March that wrought heavy damage to DOC facility have forced the task force to expedite its work, the chairman said it has been meeting the conditions of the decree.

“There is absolutely no pressure relating to the work of the task force,” he explained. “The pressure may in fact be coming from me to try and move it faster than what the consent decree provides.”