When an altercation occurs at any correctional facility, including Halawa in Hawaii, both participants are typically removed from the general population and placed in the Special Housing Unit. That placement comes with immediate and significant restrictions on all privileges, including phone access.
In the SHU, phone access is reduced to one 15-minute call per week. That is the standard allowance across virtually every correctional system and it applies regardless of which facility or state the inmate is in. One call, fifteen minutes, once every seven days. Missing that window means waiting another full week for the next opportunity, so being available and reachable when that call comes is important.
How long the SHU placement lasts depends on two things. The severity of the altercation is the first factor. A minor scuffle that did not result in serious injury gets treated differently from a fight involving weapons or hospitalization. The second factor is the inmate's existing disciplinary record. Someone with prior incident reports faces a longer SHU stay than someone with a clean record facing their first infraction. The range runs from one month on the lower end to twelve months or more for serious or repeated incidents.
The one situation where phone privileges can be suspended entirely rather than just reduced is when the altercation was specifically related to the phone itself. Fighting over phone access or phone time is treated as an abuse of the privilege and some facilities respond by removing phone access indefinitely for the inmates involved.
Letters remain the most reliable way to stay connected during a SHU placement. Mail continues to reach SHU inmates even when phone access is at its most restricted.