A three-man team from the U.S. Department of Justice arrived here on Thursday and will be staying for a week to visit the correctional facilities on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
“After the DOJ team visit, we will know whether we are in compliance and what remaining steps we need to complete to close the consent decree,” Buckingham said.
He added that the term “compliance” does not necessarily mean that the CNMI meets each and every standard 100 percent all the time.
“To be in compliance means that we are in ‘substantial compliance’ with the provisions of the consent decree, especially the most important standards that relate to safety,” Buckingham said.
He said the CNMI has just opened its new adult correctional facility on Saipan, and the juvenile facility is also relatively new.
“Both the Tinian and Rota detention facilities have had recent improvements,” Buckingham said.
The DOJ team, he added, was on Rota yesterday to look into the island’s detention facility.
“We believe that there will be areas where we need to improve. We will discuss these with the DOJ and the federal court, and then we will develop action plans to address these areas,” Buckingham said.
He added that the commonwealth has worked very hard for several years to improve its correctional facilities’ conditions and operations.
He said among the individuals who worked with the Department of Corrections throughout the complex issues involving staff, funding among other things were Director Gregory F. Castro and the late Maj. Juan M. Ayuyu.
Buckingham said if the CNMI fails to close the consent decree, the responsibility will fall on his shoulders.
The consent decree, which governs operations for the adults and juveniles in the custody of the commonwealth on Saipan, Tinian and Rota, took effect in 1999 after the DOJ sued the CNMI for not meeting certain standards and safety in the operation of the criminal justice system.
Buckingham said instead of going to trial, DOJ and the commonwealth agreed to implement the consent decree to improve the conditions and standards of local correctional facilities.
Buckingham has been the consent decree coordinator since March 2003. He also serves as counsel to the Commonwealth Board of Parole in addition to his work in the criminal division of the Attorney General’s Office.
