Idaho Prison Blog

///////////////// 12/22/21 HUGE HOLIDAY SAVINGS ARE HERE! Sorry for the confusion our previous message may have caused... Now through January 3rd, save on stamps and select media titles!* If your Family and Friends buy stamps this week they'll EARN 10% EXTRA stamps for every stamp package purchased on packages of 5 or more! Plus, we've got great deals on select media titles* - so you can stock up and save big! Please note: Stamp packages purchased in the tablet will not reflect bonus. So, be sure to tell your Family and Friends to buy stamps so they can EARN 10% EXTRA for every package purchased on packages of 5 or more! Don't miss out these savings won't last long. *Available at participating facilities. ///////////////// 12/20/21 Huge Holiday Savings are Here! Now through January 3rd, save on stamps and media! Earn 10% EXTRA stamps for every stamp package purchased on packages of 5 or more! Plus, check out the great deals on select media titles so you can stock up and...

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In a 12/2/21 memo, new ISCC Warden Randy Valley* has ordered that all recreation, rehabilitation programs, and education classes be cancelled immediately based on a (category Orange) COVID risk assessment on December 1, 2021 at the facility. Although not listed in the memo, this would seem to necessarily include a suspension of visiting as well. Anyone planning an in-person visit at the ISCC should contact the prison at (208) 331-2760 before making the trip. While worried about cohorting (restricting people to specific groups which are not allowed to physically interact with other groups), facility administrators do not require staff to change gloves or other personal protection equipment (PPE) when moving between housing units and still allow privileged inmates to move about the prison, physically interact with untold numbers of staff and prisoners then return to cohorted housing areas. Were this an actual emergency requiring cohorting, allowing prisoners to break the cohort - for any...

On November 1, 2021 KQXR radio 100.3 FM in Boise, ID reported that the Idaho Department of Correction was now offering new employees a $1,500 signing bonus, a starting salary of $19.00 an hour and an annual retention bonus of $1,500 for up to 5 years. While the pay and bonus rates may well entice any number of applicants to apply to work at the IDOC, it is quite often the case that with an increase in quantity there is a corresponding decrease in quality. This is certain to happen here. The IDOC has been whining for more than a year they don't have enough staff to fill the positions left vacant by guards (and others) who have moved on. As has been reported on this site, many guards at the ISCC reportedly resigned because of the way the facility was being run by [then] Warden Jay Christensen. Though Christensen is gone, many of his policies and attitudes still exist - like administrators continuing to allow some inmates to do things which not only violate departmental policy - but g...

The trend of law enforcement towards the use of body cameras across the country has grown as the technology becomes more cost efficient. Agencies have also found that the use of these video records not only instills a modicum of trust by the public, but helps to protect and preserve the truth. While the cameras cannot tell the entire story, the recordings are unquestionably valuable in coming to a conclusion as to what was said and done in view of the microphone and lens. While in secure areas of the prison, neither staff or prisoner has a (legal) expectation of privacy. IDOC staff are ON DUTY at all times while on a post (work area) and therefore subject to being recorded (except in certain circumstances such as bathroom visits, etc.). Conversations and interactions with prisoners - and other staff - are clearly a matter of administrative and public interest (and record) but are currently lost to time and secrecy. Body cameras will preserve these interactions, good and bad, and due to...

As it stands, the Idaho Department of Correction does not provide, or in some cases even allow prisoners legal research materials commonly referred to as "case law" - legal rulings made by courts of appeal and supreme courts - state and federal. This denial of information is designed specifically to keep prisoners from being able to appeal their criminal convictions or sentences, bringing lawsuits against the department or defending their rights in court. The IDOC is only 1 of 2 states that do not provide prisoners access to some sort of law library - physical (books) or electronic - containing case law because most courts (including Idaho and federal courts) REQUIRE parties to cite "argument and authority"... otherwise the case is automatically dismissed. Of course, that argument and authority is derived from case law. According to the law, persons acting pro se (without a lawyer) are held to the same pleading standards as attorneys when it comes to citing argument...

EDITOR'S NOTE: As mentioned in previous posts, the IDOC to inmate emails are communications sent to all IDOC prisoners via JPay on an irregular and random basis. As made obvious in the emails themselves, many are authored by Keefe Commissary Network staff, under contract as a vendor to provide commissary goods and services to prisoners in the IDOC. For some reason, sending these exact same emails OUT to be posted on this site seems to raise flags with IDOC censors, taking up to 10 days (sometimes more) from the time they are compiled and sent out via JPay to reach the site administrator. Because they are in the "public domain" - you too have the right to see them. I'll keep them coming until I can't. Be well all. Dale //////////// 10/27/21 Keefe Commissary Concerns/Questions: From this point forward all concenrs/quetions in regards toKeefe Property Commissary need to be sent to Rusty McNeil. Please do not sent your concerns directly to Keefe. ///////// 10/22/21 De...

10/8/21 Dear JPay Customer, We are running a one-week Flash Sale with some of our deepest discounts yet on game titles. When you visit the Game Store, check out the Reduced Price category for a list of titles available for temporarily discounted prices! This promotion will run from Friday, October 8th, 2021, to Thursday, October 14th, 2021. We hope these discounts help you enjoy playing more games! Warm regards, Your JPay Team //////////// 10/8/21 MESSAGE FROM KEEFE COMMISSARY TO: IDOC RESIDENTS FROM: KEEFE COMMISSARY NETWORK DATE: 10/8/2021 To whom it may concern, The COVID19 pandemic has severely affected the operations of vendors including Keefe. Across the economy right now there are labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and products in short supply. Deliveries are also impacted by longer delivery times for container ships getting to port and truck driver shortages with no end in sight according to analysts. Keefe is unfortunately not immune to the impact of the economic, labo...

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the extremely high number of items which are constantly out of stock in the Keefe Commissary, the Out of Stock emails will no longer be included in these posts. If anyone wants that information, simply send me an email and I'll make it available to you. /////// 9/16/21 Dear JPay Customer, We wanted to provide some tips to ensure you are getting the most out of the JPay Support Ticket system. Please see below: Keep in mind that you can only have one support ticket open at a time. So if you have an open ticket, you must close that inquiry or wait for Customer Service to respond and close the ticket before you can open a new support ticket. Most of the time Customer Service will respond with a resolution or troubleshooting steps that fix the issue, then they close the ticket. However, if the troubleshooting steps DO NOT fix the issue, please open a new support ticket and reference the previous ticket number and issue that was not resolved. IMPORTANT please ma...