Change to Faith Action Legislative Priority

by Cassie Chee, Faith Action Organizer, and Lee Curran, Co-Chair of the Transformative Justice Task Force

In a previous message, we shared that the #1 legislative advocacy priority approved by the Faith Action Steering Committee for 2022 was the work of HousingNOW! Since that time, the housing task force decided to take a step back and to strategize more about how best to advocate for affordable housing.

This means that the priority initially identified as #2 now becomes #1. This is the issue of cash bail reform identified by the Transformative Justice task force. Faith Action’s Transformative Justice Task Force is committed to radically reimagining public safety in Hawaiʻi by divesting from systems of harm and investing in preventative, community-based solutions. We aim to uplift the voices of those disparately and unjustly impacted by the oppressive institutions of mass incarceration, policing, and the criminal legal system.

The current cash bail system in Hawai’i criminalizes people without the resources to pay bail and denies them their presumption of innocence as they languish in pre-trial detention. There are several cash bail reform bills awaiting hearings and we encourage you to engage in the legislative process by submitting testimony once they are given hearings.

You can do this by submitting written testimony on the Legislature’s website, or by signing up for oral testimony that would take place during the zoom hearings. Please email the Transformative Justice Task Force for more information about cash bail reform and to receive emails with alerts and action items.

We can be reached at Transformative@faithactionhawaii.org.