I think the court's rulings were fair and correct. In the next four to six weeks, prison social workers will assign an appropriate custody level that will determine where Uyesugi will be housed permanently. To receive a mandatory life term without parole, there must be murder in the first degree. Lifers are not automatically placed into protective custody. Module B, home of the protective custody unit, currently houses about 25 protective-custody inmates.
Inmates are double-celled, meaning they have a roommate.
They spend at least eight hours at night and a couple hours between shifts confined to their cells, Espinda said. The inmates also are allowed an hour of recreation in an open-air, enclosed yard each day. Meals are delivered to the module and eaten in the day room. Medical personnel go to them, rather than having inmates escorted to the infirmary. Uyesugi is safe in Hawaii's prisons, Espinda said.