The Criminal Justice Research Institute receives many requests for information on national trends, insight from studies in scholarly and peer-reviewed literature, and data on local practices. In some circumstances, CJRI will present requested information to interested groups in order to disseminate more complex studies and serve as a resource on interpreting the research locally. CJRI staff consider all requests, and prioritizes and selects those that align with the scope of research outlined in the HRS with the resources available at the time of the request. These presentations are designed to meet the needs of specific requests, and do not reflect a comprehensive review of the scholarly research literature. CJRI will update this page periodically with materials from prior presentations.
Setting Minimum Terms in Hawai`i: An Examination of Hawai`i Paroling Authority Hearing Data
The purpose of this presentation was to provide quantitative data that would inform the work of the HCR 23 Task Force, which was charged with examining and making recommendations regarding the existing procedures of the Hawai`i Paroling Authority setting the minimum terms of imprisonment. In the September 12, 2024 Task Force Meeting, CJRI presented descriptive analyses on the demographic characteristics of sentenced individuals who had a minimum term hearing from January to June, 2023; the common offenses people were sentenced for; how HPA’s policies were used in practice to set minimum terms; the length of minimum terms people received across felony class and punishment levels; and the distribution of minimum term lengths across six months of hearings.
To learn more about the HCR 23 Task Force: https://hcsoc.hawaii.gov/hcr23-task-force/
Understanding Women’s Pathways into Crime and “What Works” to Support their Success
This presentation was created in response to a request from members of the Women’s Prison Project, and a brief overview of the research was also presented to the Women’s Legislative Caucus. Information covered a variety of topics including a snapshot of women in Hawai`i’s criminal justice system using previously published statistics; an overview of women’s pathways into criminal activity; the characteristics and unique needs of women involved in the criminal justice system; barriers to their success; and gender-responsive approaches to corrections.