Hālawa Correctional Facility, the largest prison in Hawaiʻi, has recently been flagged for a disturbing trend of suicides among its inmates, with reports indicating at least five attempts in the past year alone.
The tragedies, believed to have occurred recently on April 12 and May 17, have raised alarms among advocates and experts who pinpoint longstanding operational flaws as the root cause of this crisis.
In response to a federal lawsuit alleging poor mental health services and insufficient suicide prevention, the state has agreed to allow outside experts unfettered access to scrutinize the correctional system’s practices.
Carrie Ann Shirota, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi (ACLU), has called for state lawmakers to hold public hearings regarding the recent deaths.
Shirota emphasized a concerning reality: many inmates come with complex backgrounds involving mental illness, drug addiction, and homelessness, yet the correctional facilities lack the necessary treatment options.
“It’s a combustible mix of unmet needs and a lack of necessary services,” Shirota asserted, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Justice, suicides constituted 8% of deaths in state and federal prisons nationwide in 2019. In stark contrast, at Hālawa, suicides accounted for all but one of the six inmate deaths reported within the past year.
While two of the five cases have been confirmed as suicides, final autopsy reports for the remaining three are pending; however, they have likewise been deemed apparent suicides by the state’s Correctional System Oversight Commission.
This alarming rate of suicide stands in stark contrast to the rest of the Hawaiʻi correctional system, where only two confirmed or suspected suicides have been noted since May 2024, indicating a troubling anomaly at Hālawa.
Experts are now calling for critical assessments of how mental health issues among inmates are screened and addressed within correctional settings.
Jay Aronson, director of the Center for Human Rights Science at Carnegie Mellon University, noted that five suicides in a facility housing approximately 800 inmates is “pretty damning”.
Aronson underscored the importance of the forthcoming outside review in examining how effectively the system responds to mental health risks.
Christin Johnson, the oversight coordinator for the state’s Correctional System Oversight Commission, expressed disbelief at the unusual number of suicides at Hālawa.
Johnson acknowledged, “The number of suicides at Hālawa in the past year does not seem reasonable to me,” indicating an increasing concern regarding conditions within the facility.
Interestingly, the overall suicide risk tends to be higher in jails where inmates await trial, rather than in prisons where individuals serve sentences, further complicating the narrative surrounding Hālawa.
The tragic history connected to Hālawa proves costly for the state. In 2022, a judge awarded nearly $1.4 million to the estate of Joseph O’Malley, an inmate who died by suicide in isolation at the facility.
A subsequent report revealed numerous failures in addressing the needs of suicidal inmates, underlining the pervasive issues facing Hālawa.
While officials credit efforts to hire more staff to address these challenges, Johnson highlighted a significant shortfall in available mental health professionals.
She pointed out that the lack of mental health practitioners across the state’s facilities, particularly at Hālawa, exacerbates an already challenging scenario.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that 41% of inmates in federal and state prisons struggle with mental health issues, and the state confirmed earlier this year that 20 out of 23 psychologist positions within the correctional system remain vacant.
Director Tommy Johnson of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation acknowledged the difficulty in filling these positions, attributing it to a general reluctance among qualified psychologists to work in a prison setting.
The current lack of programming and activities for inmates has also come under scrutiny. The oversight commission pointed out that many prisoners are confined to their cells for 20 hours a day, which has detrimental effects on their mental health.
Johnson remarked, “We frequently hear about people only getting maybe two to three hours a day out of their cells, and that’s just not acceptable.”
Research underscores that extended confinement significantly impacts inmates’ mental well-being.
Johnson is a strong advocate for providing more meaningful engagement for inmates through various programs and activities.
She believes that enabling prisoners to get out of their cells, engage in programs, or even partake in simple leisure activities could improve their mental state dramatically.
The pandemic exacerbated issues within correctional facilities nationwide. Many programs were halted due to COVID-19, and, unfortunately, many have not restarted as staffing levels remain inadequate.
Aronson noted that the understaffing crisis is compounded by the ongoing impact of COVID-19 as facilities are reluctant to move inmates around.
The oversight commission has urged the department to adopt a direct supervision approach, which would involve employing more corrections officers to engage directly with inmates, enhancing their ability to monitor and support mental health.
Currently, Hālawa predominantly employs an indirect supervision system, which lacks the personal touch necessary for effective inmate management.
Johnson contended that increasing in-person supervision could lead to more successful interventions in times of crisis.
Despite the challenges, in recent weeks, corrections officers at Hālawa successfully intervened in two suicide attempts, highlighting the critical importance of officer presence and interaction.
The ACLU of Hawaiʻi has intensified calls for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding these deaths while urging state legislators to take decisive action.
Shirota stated, “We’re also asking our state Legislature to not look away.”
Her appeal outlined the necessity for the legislature to convene an informational hearing and demand accountability from the Department of Corrections regarding the suicide incidents.
Tommy Johnson recently emphasized the nation-wide challenge of managing inmate suicides, noting, “Many mentally ill people are being incarcerated, turning correctional facilities into ‘de facto mental health institutions.’”
He admitted, “If someone is determined to kill themselves, they’re going to try, and keep trying.”
However, he reiterated the priority to identify and support inmates who are struggling, connecting them with proper care and treatment.
The state’s previous settlement following a 2019 federal class-action lawsuit has paved the way for this independent review, intended to promote improvements in mental health services.
The lawsuit arose partly in response to the tragic death of Jessica Fortson, who committed suicide in a correctional facility in 2017.
Building on this settlement, Johnson has conveyed the commitment to providing access to forensic psychiatrists Bhushan Agharkar and Jeffrey Metzner, who will begin their evaluation of mental health services in Hawaiʻi’s prisons and jails in June.
This review is envisioned to create a roadmap for enhancing services, requiring subsequent funding requests from state lawmakers to implement these changes.
Brandon Elefante, Chair of the Senate Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee, along with Della Au Belatti, Chair of the House Public Safety Committee, expressed their interest in the forthcoming report from Agharkar and Metzner.
Both officials have stressed the importance of responsible action in preventing potential consent decrees with the federal government due to non-compliance with safety protocols, staffing levels, and other necessary standards designed to protect inmates’ lives.
As the situation continues to unfold, it highlights a critical intersection of mental health, correctional oversight, and accountability that demands urgent attention and action.
image source from：https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/05/suicides-at-hawaiis-largest-prison-up-stakes-for-mental-health-review/
