STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1454

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 148

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 2

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 148, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WRONGFUL IMPRISONMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide redress to persons wrongfully imprisoned in the State.

     Specifically, the measure:

     (1)  Establishes procedures for a person who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned to petition for a claim for damages against the State; and

     (2)  Provides for immediate services to persons wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Community Alliance on Prisons; the Hawaii Innocence Project, Hoomana Pono, LLC; and three individuals.  Your Committee received written comments in opposition to the measure from the Department of the Attorney General and the Hawaii Paroling Authority.

     Your Committee finds that innocent persons who have been wrongly convicted of crimes and subsequently imprisoned have been uniquely victimized, have distinct challenges re-entering society, and have difficulty achieving legal redress due to a variety of substantive and technical obstacles in the law.  Your Committee believes that the compensation and services provided by this measure will help wrongfully convicted persons transition back into society and will increase their future self-sufficiency.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 148, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 148, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair