Idaho Prison Blog

On the July 14, 2018 - two hours into the (so-called) Live P.D. broadcast on the A & E television network, Greene County Missouri Sheriff's Corporal Tim Haynes is shown responding to a call (several miles away) where someone was stabbed in the hand - at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour - while reading aloud from the vehicle mounted computer screen. As noted in previous posts, this show (not a program - a show) does have some inherent value in exposing actions of police from across the country while driving which, if commited by any other citizen, would result in at least a citation and fine, including not wearing seatbelts (even when speeding to calls), running stop signs without lights/sirens or failure to signal when making turns or lane changes. These officers and deputies constantly use (non) hands-free telephones while driving and type on computer keyboards - even when driving at outragous speed. While the show can be entertaining at times - if you watch it with ...

Article links to Prison Legal News: https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/jul/1/idaho-prisoner-swallows-razor-blade-force-corizon-provide-medical-care/

Where does a prisoner or their family turn when facility administrators make ludicrus and final decisions which are in conflict with Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) or Policy? Apparently, not to Mr. Ross Castleton, Deputy Chief of Prisons as his June 11, 2018 response to the following questions posed to him indicate. Racist, sexist, homophobic and utterly ridiculous statements and policy interpretations by ISCC Warden Jay Christensen and other facility administrators as seen below seem to be the final word in the IDOC. Here's an example: "On January 23rd, you made me aware during a tier check that you had your friend send in photos of male sumo wrestlers with large breasts in order to test our threshold of censorship. If it depicts female breasts and nipples it will be confiscated, even if it is on a man." (Jay Christensen Level 3 - Appellate Authority Response: Grievance No. IC 180000123 - May 18, 2018) HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS PRES...

In an effort to clarify official IDOC policy, Dale Shackelford recently had emails sent to Chief of Prisons  Ashley Dowell . Ms. Dowell then assigned Mr. Ross Castleton, Deputy Chief of Prisons, to investigate and answer the questions. The following are some of the questions and responses (as received). Q: In the simplist of terms, the actual number of days staff have to release an email, photo or video from the time it is received at the facility from Jpay to the prisoner. A: The number of days staff have to release an email photo or video from the time it is received at the facility is 5 days if it is approved. If it is not approved and goes to investigations, it can be held up to 10 days. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Mr. Castleton indicates that the ECMs may be held 5 days, not 5 BUSINESS days, however, despite staff who are authorized to review ECMs working 24/7, SOP usually indicates that times do not include weekends or holidays.)  Q: Same question, but what is the number of d...

Dear Tax Commission: As I'm sure you are aware, Idaho Code 63-3619(c) requires that retailers calculate (sales) tax upon the entire amount of purchases of the consumer made at a particular time and not separately upon each item purchased - (often referred to a line item purchases). Despite this statute, Keefe Commissary Network (KCN), a company contracted by the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) to provide retail sales of commissary goods to prisoners continues to utilize line-item calculations when calculating (Idaho) sales tax on these retail sales. Several years ago, a lawsuit was initiated in the Ada County court regarding this very matter. The Tax Commission made it clear that KCN had no exemption to allow the use of line-item calculations, however, because an employee at the Idaho State Tax Commission - without authorization - had told KCN and IDOC that they could utilize line-item calculations on inmate purchases, the court ruled that KCN had a [then] reasonable belief t...

In an email to IDOC prisoners dated April 25, 2018 (reproduced below), Keefe Commissary Network made the decision to increase prices of all commissary goods by 4.9% (we'll have to call that 5% guys - really... how stupid do you think we are ... never mind - don't answer that...). While that 5% increase might be an increase of 5 cents on the dollar using street math, let's use some prison math shall we? Let's say that an item - we'll call it a Widget - costs Keefe (wholesale) 40 cents. On the street, this item would then retail at somewhere between 90 cents and one dollar, but in Idaho prisons - based on the contract Keefe has with the IDOC, Keefe can charge more than what you would pay if you were to purchase the item retail at the most expensive "convenience" store in the state. That 40 cent widg e t will now be retailed to prisoners at the price of right around $1.75 - - - but wait, there's more! On top of the retail price, IDOC adds a...

During debate on House Bill 665 on March 9, 2018, Representative Luke Malek (R - District 4: Kootenai County) stated in open session that while it is the goal and legislative intent of juvenile corrections in Idaho to develop the character and fitness for young offenders, rehabilitation is not the goal for adult offenders in Idaho. As an attorney and a legislator since 2012, Representive Malek would certainly have knowledge of the inner workings, intricacies and intent of the laws of the State of Idaho, and with the millions of dollars of federal funding and state general fund appropriations being accepted by the Idaho Department of Correction under the guise of using it for rehabilitation of adult prisoners, the lawmaker's statement on the House floor should raise serious concerns. For years, Idaho's adult prisoners have been required to participate in and complete various [rehabilitation] programs while incarcerated in order to have any meaningful opportunity for parole, or i...

Cell searches by staff in prisons and jails are a common and necessary security action, but are an intensely intrusive act that can do more harm than good when done incorrectly, or for improper and unprofessional purposes. Few staff (or administrators) stop to think of the ramifications of shakedowns gone wrong - but here's an overview - and a potential fix for many of the problems associated with cell searches. Imagine if you will that your home is burglarized, and someone goes through all of your belongings. Even if nothing is taken, the VIOLATION of knowing that someone has looked through, inspected and touched your most private of possessions - from your underwear to your food, sacred religious items and even your private documents and cherished photos - is overwhelming. If items are taken, it's worse, but imagine how that feeling lingers when a week later, you discover things missing that you hadn't discovered were missing immediately after the burglary. What else migh...

Article II, Section 15 of the Idaho State Constitution provides that "No law shall be passed, nor shall any bill be put upon its final passage until ... [the bill] shall have been read on three several days in each house previous to the vote thereon..." The constitutional provision also requires that on the final passage of bills (in each of legislative bodies - House and Senate) - usually referred to as the "third reading" - all bills SHALL be read at length, section by section in the respective body. These constitutional mandates are not only being ignored, legislators are actively, knowingly and intentionally falsifying the official state record (journal) regarding the goings-on in the law-making process. Upon the introduction of a bill for a vote in either state legislative body, virtually every bill, whether on the first, second or third (calendar) reading of the bill, the sponsor of the bill will make the following request of the body leader (Speaker of the Ho...

(Guest post by Phillip Turney) Inmates at the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) have filed a class action lawsuit alleging the state fails to provide meaningful medical treatment for patients infected with the Hepatitis-C Virus (HCV). The suit, filed January 2, 2018 in federal court in Boise claims that corrections officials, together with its contracted medical provider Corizon Health, are discriminating against prisoners with with HCV and have failed to provide the community standard-of-care for treatment of hepatitis C patients. As many as 3,000 Idaho prisoners are known to be positive for HCV. State law (Idaho Code 39-601and 39-604) mandates that inmates be screened upon entering prison, and again before release. If infected with a communicable disease, they are supposed to receive treatment. IDOC has treated less than 60 prisoners with current era medications. In 2013 a virtual breakthrough in medicine occurred when direct acting antiviral medications (DAA's) came to marke...