Revamp criminal justice system

The CNMI government must overhaul its criminal justice system to prevent a surge in crimes in light of an independent study that shows an 83 percent jump in admission in the corrections facility over a 10-year period since 1989.

In contrast, the study indicated that prosecution of misdemeanor and felony cases lagged behind considerably based on 500 random samples, either due to poor investigation or lack of manpower.

Rep. Heinz Hofschneider, chief of the Prison Task Force, advocated for reforms which he said will compliment efforts in improving the prison facilities.

“The Commonwealth should take this opportunity to redirect the criminal justice system,” Mr. Hofschneider said. “This is the right time to look at the entire system, including DPS, courts, prosecution side, and other service providers in the criminal justice system.”

He warned that building and expanding the future jail will be rendered useless unless a package of reforms are put in place to correct the justice system. “It will not matter even if we build a big corrections facility as long as we don’t understand the impacts created by existing laws or existing practices in our entire criminal justice system,” the representative explained.

Mr. Hofschneider outlined reforms which should be implemented in order to address worsening crime in the Commonwealth, such as creation of the criminal justice information system, strengthening of investigation and prosecution aspects, and alternative sentencing to reduce jail occupancy.

The island government has been under fire from federal officials for failing to improve prison conditions, which have been the subject of several complaints by inmates.

Study

The prison task force has tapped the services of independent consultants to help CNMI officials evaluate the island’s criminal justice system in line with the consent decree handed down by federal officials.

Based on a study prepared by David Bennet and Roger Lichtman of New Jersey, 355 of the 500 random samples had not been prosecuted. It shows that 61 percent of these cases had not reached the court, while 22 percent required further investigation. About 15 percent had been declined.

The report says no court action was taken on 59 percent of the 149 felony cases sampled and 26 percent needed further investigation, while 58 percent of 178 misdemeanor cases had not been brought to courts.

However, the report says that the government scored high in conviction with regards to 145 cases that had been prosecuted, with traffic cases showing 73 percent conviction and misdemeanor 60 percent, against 27 percent and 49 percent pending cases, respectively. There is a need to catch up with regards to felony cases, as pending cases outnumbered conviction at 53 percent and 47 percent, respectively.

Four hundred eighty-nine of the 500 samples studied indicated that crimes were committed mostly by male, majority of whom in the 25 to 34 years old age group. Thirty-one percent of the crimes involved Asians, 26 percent Chamorros, 9 percent Carolinians and the rest divided among other ethnic groups.