Idaho Prison Blog

In a recently posted article on this page (WHEN A GUARD HATES A PRISONER - OR THE GREAT TORTILLA CAPER - THAT NEVER WAS ), Dale Shackelford described how ISCC staff failed/refused to investigate or even look into unsubstantiated and refuted claims of theft before accusing and firing him from his long-held job in the Close Custody unit. It is now known (too late) that Shackelford did not bring the tortillas to the unit - and did not steal anything. Unfortunately, it's happened again. Correctional Officer (guard) * CENSORED BY IDOC INVESTIGATIONS * (who's dislike for Shackelford was outed in the posted article) has now accused Shackelford of harassing him for providing him with an emailed copy of the posted article. According to a Discplinary Offense Report filed against Shackelford by * CENSORED BY IDOC INVESTIGATIONS * he opened the email at 11:52 pm on January 17, 2021. Within just a few hours, * CENSORED BY IDOC INVESTIGATIONS * had written and filed the DOR. "Offender S...

In a previous article posted on this site, it was divulged that ISCC administrators have been allowing quarantined prisoners to mingle with others outside the quarantine area. It is much worse than initially thought. On January 12, 2021 inmate workers housed (under quarantine) in F Block (including at least 1 who had tested positive for COVID-19 within 2 weeks prior) were called to work in G Block to perform duties, including, but not limited to the serving of meals to other inmates who are themselves under quarantine - many who were transferred to the ISCC from Community Work Centers specifically for quarantine status. In a January 13, 2021 reply to a Concern form asking about the scope of the quarantine status in F Block, ISCC Warden Jay Christensen stated, "Quarantine is confined to cells. Some essential workers are allowed out". While there has been no published definition of "essential worker", here are just some examples of those inmate workers who are being a...

On Tuesday, January 5, 2021, the ISCC began (re)testing prisoners for the coronavirus. According to medical staff, all prisoners on the units being tested would be locked down until results of the tests came back, and those prisoners who tested positive would be quarantined in their cell (along with their cell partner - whether or not the cell partner tested positive). While "Quarantine" signs popped up on a few cell doors a couple days later, and medical staff confirmed that all tests were back, entire tiers remained locked down - except for a few inmates who were allowed to leave the unit to work in various areas of the facility. Without explanation as to why the lockdown continued, frustration levels among the inmate population increased. In an email to unit staff a week after the lockdown, ISCC Lieutenant Nicodemus explained that the reason that prisoners were still on lockdown (and only allowed out of their cells - one cell at a time - 20 minutes per day, and only then a...

Thanksgiving morning, 2020. ISCC Correctional Officer (C/O or guard) Tanya Young opened my cell door at about 5 am as I was preparing for my day. "Don't bother coming to work," she told me with a smirk, "We found the tortillas." "Okay," I replied, "But there should have been a whole case of them." Looking at me like I was something stuck on the bottom of her shoe, she tells me, "There was - and officer Akins fired you." She then closed and locked the cell door with a haughty satisfaction and walked jubilantly away. It didn't start there. In fact, this had been going on for almost 2 years when I first started working in G Block - the Close Custody unit at the ISCC. Although officially listed as the G Block Foyer janitor, my job entailed much more than the cleaning of floors and bathrooms. Shortly after I started working in that unit, guard Casey Moffett made clear his intense dislike for me, but for what reason he disliked me I n...

Hello All- What a year 2020 has been. Im not going to dwell on all the challenges we faced this year we experienced it and honestly, going through it once was more than enough. But, I want to take a moment to give thanks and maybe even offer a bit of hope for what lies ahead in 2021. First of all, the pandemic required everyone to behave in new ways and I express my deep appreciation to those of you who jumped into action to make more than 55,000 masks to help keep everyone at IDOC safe. You produced enough masks that we were able to donate thousands to local community agencies too. We also had people stepping up to learn how to use new sanitizing foggers and take on additional cleaning duties. Everyone rolled with the punches, including moves that allowed us to create dedicated housing units to better manage the pandemic. I know its been especially hard to have movement in the facilities limited and to not have in-person visitation, and I thank you for cooperation. Were currently work...