Idaho Prison Blog

There can be little doubt that masks of any type covering the face and mouth are beneficial against the spread of airborne viral and bacterial contagions, with some masks working better than others. Some masks do little more than obscure the face while allowing snot-rocket globs the size of gummy bears to get through, while others are designed specifically to trap or prevent even virus sized particles from transferring in or out. The masks provided to staff and prisoners at the ISCC are somewhere in between (though leaning towards the snot-rocket end of the spectrum) and are being mischaracterized by prison administrators as medical/surgical quality masks. ISCC Town Hall Meeting minutes from September 1, 2020, minutes reveal the following conversations and orders from administrators regarding the wearing of masks in the facility: * MASKS * All IDOC offenders and staff are mandated to wear medical/surgical masks, which are provided by the IDOC * Masks can not be ordered from Amazon and

When an inmate seeks protective custody because of pressures originating or culminating in his housing tier (a misnomer) at the ISCC, not only is that inmate removed from the tier, but the remaining population of the tier - from 80 to 100 men - are locked down as punishment, preventing those left behind from enjoying video visits, going to work, school or programs required by the parole board, heating meals, showering, or even using the toilet in private. These total lock downs can last anywhere from a few days to over a week. Although staff refuse to provide any outright official justification as to why these lock downs occur, there are mutterings that is is for investigatory purposes, to allow staff to figure out exactly who was involved, and what role they played the activities, be it a fight, or an inmate seeking protective custody. While that may well be a valid justification (not that justifications are necessary I suppose), it is rarely the case, as most lock downs occur when th

One of the few positives in prison is the opportunity to receive an academic or vocational education that many prisoners never received on the streets. In addition to curbing recidivism, whether through preparation for employment or simply through learning responsibility of regular attendance, the prison classroom is usually considered sacrosanct, a place of learning, away from the hustle and bustle of the regular prison atmosphere - until that is, the teacher becomes a guard. While teachers in most prison classrooms will carry a radio, wear a staff identification card and have the authority to hand out disciplinary reports, they are usually considered by prisoner students above all else, educators. These people wear civilian clothing, and generally have a willingness to communicate with prisoners as would a teacher on the streets - within certain boundries of course - but once they are seen acting as a guard, that facade is gone. At the ISCC, teachers and vocational class instructors

Imagine going to the doctor and being tested for AIDS, HIV or some other life-threatening disease, only to have the doctor inform you that he cannot tell you the results of the test. Imagine the anger, worry and the anguish you and your family would go through - the not knowing. In what can be described only as ridiculous, prisoners at the ISCC are being informed that they have no right to know the results of COVID-19 tests performed on them. This means that prisoners who have been tested, in most cases, have no idea whether or not they have actually contracted the virus, or might still have the disease. This is leading to frustration, anger and resentment which will certainly come to a head in the days or weeks to come as more prisoners are quarantined without even knowing whether or not they are, or ever were sick. Idaho law actually allows prison officials to keep secret all records of a prisoner - including medical records - even from the prisoner him/herself. The statute (Idaho Co

For months, hundreds of IDOC prisoners have been locked down to various degrees due to the coronavirus pandemic. In an effort to mitigate the frustrations associated with the changes made throughout the system and provide mandatory access to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), IDOC administrators have worked with JPay to provide prisoners with educational videos, tablet-based games, the ability to download videograms to tablets over Wifi, and most importantly, the ability to review IDOC policies and procedures. Unfortunately, most prisoners - even those who have tablets - do not have access to these apps. Prisoners who own tablets which are more than a year old have complained to JPay for quite some time that games they have purchased are not available to play on their tablet. When the educational videos were introduced, they too were unavailable to these prisoners and no amount of complaining has helped. JPay denies that these media won't download and they are correct, the softw

Hello everyone, Buckle up, this is going to be a long update. I've heard that there are a lot of unanswered questions that people have and its causing folks to make assumptions and fill in the gaps with their own version. I want to lay out for you what is happening systemwide and provide the reasons why some things are happening in some places but not in others. Where do we have people with COVID-19? As of today, we have people positive with COVID-19 at ISCC, SICI, SAWC, Nampa CRC, Treasure Valley CRC, and East Boise CRC. We do not yet have known positives at NICI, ICIO, PWCC, SBWCC, ISCI, IMSI, CAPP, or the Idaho Falls CRC. What's the plan for testing? This one is complicated. It's important to understand that our capacity to test is currently limited by how quickly our partner agencies can collect and process samples. It doesn't make any sense to rush to get samples from everyone if processing will take days or weeks, so timing is key. The VA has agreed to process up

In an IDOC news release, prison officials provided the following information regarding the death of a prisoner while in custody: BOISE, July 29, 2020 -- With great sadness, the Idaho Department of Correction reports the death of an incarcerated person hospitalized with COVID-19. On July 22, 2020, Frank Dawson Conover, 66, was transported from Idaho State Correctional Center to a Boise hospital for emergency treatment. While at the hospital, he tested positive for COVID-19 while being treated for other serious underlying health conditions. Conover was pronounced dead at the hospital at 4:49 am, July 29th. ______________ While the news release provided factual information, the rest of the story must be read from between the lines. Based on the news release, it is clear that this prisoner had not been tested for COVID-19 at the ISCC, which is significant in that because of his (stated) age, this prisoner was (or should have been) housed in H Block where prisoners over the age of 60 and th

THURSDAY - An officer came by and taped a red piece of paper on the outside of my cell door today. The paper has written on it that I am under quarantine (nothing new, I've been locked in this cell for a month as of this afternoon). There are 2 other cells on this tier that had red paper taped to their door today too. I haven't been officially notified that I'm positive for the COVID-19 virus, but the red paper tells the tale according to the nurse that walked by earlier. I was tested 13 days ago - maybe the results just came in, or, more likely, the results came back days ago and they just decided to put the paper on the doors today. I asked the nurse - what now? She said they would just watch me. They have been taking my temperature, pulse and blood oxygen levels every day for the past week or so. They also ask how I feel. They don't do that to everyone, just me and a couple other guys on the tier. I bet if I watch, the other guys they check every day will be those wi

It's bad enough being locked down in a cell 24 hours per day, showering once every 3 days and and treated like a - well, a criminal - but imagine being locked in a 8 x 10 cell with a man who continuously talks to himself aloud in odd voices, screams at the top of his lungs without warning at all times of the day and night, draws and posts illustrations of raping, killing, maiming and eating others on the walls - banging on the door and pressing the emergency call button tens of times per day claiming he has been assaulted, claustrophobia, panic attacks and being a general nuisance. Those were the conditions Dale Shackelford lived under for almost 3 weeks as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown at the ISCC before staff finally had enough Shackelford's mentally ill cell partner (we'll call him NC) bothering THEM and moved NC to a segregation cell. NC's mental illness was certainly apparent before the lockdown began. Because he was his cell partner, Shackelford did attempt to

Lack of communication - in any situation - is usually a deathblow, whether in a marriage, a military mission or a bureaucracy. At ISCC, the communications breakdown of late between staff and prisoners is creating havoc, but there are ways to open channels of effective communication between prisoners and staff in an effort to help them help us. Over the past couple weeks for example, I have made suggestions to IDOC administrators for actions/items which would allow the lock down of the IDOC facilities go a bit smoother for the affected prisoners. I have strived to make these suggestions reasonable, and to make them in a positive manner. It works. In one case, I asked if there were something that could be done about the quality of the food being served in the Styrofoam trays. In another instance I asked why the Morale Packages promised to us by the IDOC Director went undelivered for weeks after they were to have been delivered, and I even went as far as to ask the IDOC Director to ca

Although prisoners are encouraged by IDOC administrators to report symptoms of the coronavirus to medical staff, doing so guarantees that not only will the prisoner be quarantined, so will his cell partner, and neither will be provided over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, Tylenol, cough suppressant or anti-nausea meds. Days after submitting a Health Services Request (HSR) complaining of nausea, headache, dry cough and severe lethargy, Dale Shackelford was tested for COVID-19 by medical staff. At the time he was tested, Shackelford - who had been locked in his cell for 2 weeks - asked for OTC meds to relieve the symptoms. Medical staff then advised Shackelford that prisoners would not be issued any such medications by the medical department which might mask their ongoing symptoms, but that the items could be purchased on commissary. There are several things wrong with this scenario. First, Shackelford was being tested for COVID-19, so masking his symptoms so as to prevent suspi

This message was received on July 10, 2020. It is provided as received and has not been edited. Hi All- Its been more than a week since our facilities in the south Boise area moved to secure status. I know this is a stressful time for everyone working and living in those facilities and Im sure it feels punitive, even though it is not intended to be. We appreciate your patience with the situation and your help in working to keep yourself and others safe. Please know this is a temporary situation, and every facility is working on plans that keep appropriate containment measures in place while allowing more movement. Testing of the incarcerated population. This week, we conducted mass testing of everyone in B and C blocks at ISCC. We hope to have those results early next week, if not before. At ISCC, weve now tested B, C, E, G, and H blocks. We have A, D and F still to test. Statewide, we have tested over 1,500 people and found 618 negative, 18 positive with symptoms, and 137 positive and

Unit F (aka F Block), tier 3 at the ISCC has been locked down for more than 2 weeks, with much of that time under quarantine status - or so they tell us - so why is it that prisoners from other units/facilities are being moved into cells on F3, breaking the so-called quarantine? Worse yet, why are prisoners who live on non-quarantined tiers being allowed access to those cells, and why are quarantined prisoners allowed to work in food service? On Wednesday, July 9, 2020, 4 prisoners were moved onto F3 from either another unit, or from another facility. The very fact that these prisoners were moved into a quarantined area negates the status of quarantine, for if these prisoners were in fact infectious, they are capable of infecting others. If they were not infectious, they are subject to infections from others on the tier. In either case, staff are now telling F3 prisoners that the 2 week quarantine clock has now restarted because of the introduction of these prisoners onto the tier. In

(This update is printed as received. No corrections to typos, if any, has been made). EDITOR'S NOTE: Reference to the S. (south) Boise Complex in this posting includes these facilities: ISCC IMSI, ISCI, SICI, and SBWCC Hi all I know its a tough time for many of you right now as it is for your friends and loved ones on the outside. I wanted to give you an update on where we stand as it relates to COVID. I received some correspondence from a gentleman in custody yesterday that really helped me understand how the lack of information can increase tension and fear. So in addition to telling you where we are with things, Im also going to do my best to explain the why behind it. Positive COVID Tests:So far, weve had 9 people incarcerated at ISCC develop symptoms and test positive for COVID-19. Weve done mass testing events in E block and H block at ISCC. We should have the E block results today. I want to share with you what weve learned from other systems who have battled COVID at the on