Feds probe isle youth prison

• The investigation comes a year after the ACLU found teens were kept in adverse conditions

The U.S. Department of Justice has started a civil rights investigation of the state's troubled youth prison in Kailua, state officials confirmed yesterday. "In conducting the investigation, we are obliged to determine whether there are systemic violations of the Constitution or laws of the United States in the conditions at the facility," said a letter that Gov. Linda Lingle received last week. "Our investigation will focus on protecting residents from harm." The agency did not disclose what prompted the investigation, but said if it finds violations, it will give the state "detailed, written findings and identify the minimum measures we believe are necessary to remedy the violation" and see what financial, technical or other federal assistance is available to help the state correct deficiencies. The federal investigation comes a year after the American Civil Liberties Union, in cooperation with the Lingle administration, inspected the Hawaii Youth Correctional Center in the summer of 2003, resulting in the report of the rape of a female inmate and allegations that teenagers were kept in crowded, unsanitary and brutal conditions. [more ]