Two more prisoners at Hālawa Correctional Facility died in the past two months in what are believed to be the fourth and fifth suicides there since last summer, making the state’s largest prison a disturbing anomaly nationally that experts blame on longstanding operational flaws.
The most recent, on April 12 and May 17, were reported weeks before two outside experts are scheduled to arrive in Hawaiʻi to scrutinize the mental health services provided in the state’s correctional facilities.
The state agreed to that review to settle a federal lawsuit that alleged the correctional system provides inadequate mental health services inside, and has failed to do enough to prevent suicides…