Idaho Prison Blog

"If certain Idaho inmates are so indispensable in their jobs that they cannot be transferred to other facilities and are immune from being transferred out of state because of their job assignment, how can it be argued that these inmates are being treated the same as all other prisoners?" - ISCC Corrections Officer: August, 2018  The Idaho Correctional Industries Act (Idaho Code Title 20, Chapter 4) provides that "...all services and labor provided" (except for hobby craft) performed by inmates constitutes "Correctional Institution Products" (we'll just call them Products here). This law also specifically states that these products "shall never be sold - or given away - for any private use". In what is clearly an end-run around the statutes, IDOC administrators, in conjunction with ISCC staff are operating a for-profit Braille transcription program from the south Boise prison under the guise of being an "educational and training program...

IDOC administrators, after having been notified by JPay that nearly a quarter million dollars had been fraudently credited to Idaho inmate accounts, charged 364 inmates with administrative violations of Theft. The means by which the funds were stolen vary, but one inmate was found to have credited his own JPay account nearly $10,000. In what is becoming standard practice in the IDOC, one prisoner who has hacked his JPay account more than once, ordering thousands of songs for which he did not have the funds, and still have not been paid for, has received no discliplinary report or punishment simply because he provides work, services and information for administrators. This inmate continues to have access to computers and other devices with the knowledge and permission of ISCC staff because the inmate "assists administrators and represents inmate interests". [Editor's note: While he may assist administrators, he certainly does not represent inmate interests.] This inmate ha...

Dear Tax Commission Representative: On May 6, 2018 I sent to you an email regarding Keefe Commissary Network, the sole contract vendor used by the Idaho Department of Correction to sell commissary goods to prisoners, unlawfully calculating sales tax on a line-item basis. I received a response to that email from you shortly thereafter, indicating that an investigation into the matter would be initiated by your commission. Since that date, I have had no communication from your office regarding this matter, and Keefe Commissary Network continues to charge prisoners sales tax based on line-item calculations, often over-charging sales tax to thousands of people per week in Idaho, but certainly not paying these overages to the commission. I have considered (and am still considering) seeking a Writ of Prohibition from the district court on this matter to prevent KCN from continuing to calculate and charge sales tax on a line-item basis in violation of Idaho Code, however, I have been waiting ...