IDOC DELAYS INCOMING AND OUTGOING INMATE MAIL - BLAMES COVID-19

In a memorandum posted on prisoner bulletin boards on April 26, 2021, Warden Barlow at the ISCI pronounced that incoming and outgoing mail service to prisoners [at all South Boise Complex prisons, including SICI, ISCI, IMSI, SWBCC and ISCC] would be "delayed" until May 10, 2021 due to the negative impacts of Covid-19 on mailroom staff.

Although there was no clarification as to what was meant by "delayed", any delay in processing U.S. Mail is unacceptable, and possibly unlawful - especially where that mail is being sent to and/or from the courts. Many prisoners have pending legal actions which cannot withstand delays as many filings are jurisdictional, meaning that if they are not in on time, they cannot ever be heard by the court. Failure of the mailroom staff to process the documents is of no consequence or concern to the courts.

There is a long list of issues with the South Boise Complex Mailroom and the IDOC in general related to inmate mail. IDOC charges prisoners $0.71 for a stamped envelope - despite postage for a standard first class letter being only $0.55. Prisoners are not allowed to have stamps or envelopes sent into the facility, even from courts or attorneys. Mailroom staff remove even prepaid reply envelopes from mailings received from companies with which inmates are authorized to do business such as magazines. When prisoners wish to renew a subscription or notify loved ones or magazines of a change of address (which the mailroom requires be done within 30 days of even changing cells) they must purchase a franked envelope from the commissary. Of course, the envelope is no longer in the "no-commission" list, meaning Keefe Commissary profits, and the IDOC collects a 25% surcharge on each stamped envelope sold - after mark-up.

Mailroom staff are already under suspicion of selling used postage stamps online in bulk - stamps which are - for no justifiable reason - torn off virtually every incoming piece of mail. IDOC SOP provides that if staff have a reasonable suspicion that a stamp, label or sticker is being used to conceal contraband, such items may be removed before the mail is delivered (SOP 402.02.01.001, pg. 11, §15). Tellingly, only postage stamps, which have quite a resale market, are removed from all incoming mail. Other stickers, including return address stickers, air mail stickers and even decorative stickers are left on the envelopes delivered to prisoners. Many charities sell bulk used stamps online to people worldwide who collect them.

In an article posted to this site some time ago (DATA BEING COMPILED FOR SOUTH BOISE COMPLEX MAILROOM LAWSUIT) some of the details of malfeasance in the handling of inmate mail were discussed. Although the lawsuit contemplated in that post has not (yet) come to fruition, the fact that mailroom staff spend hours every day sitting around flipping through magazines looking for what might be a female nipple or tear stamps off envelopes without reasonable suspicions for doing so flies in the face of the claim that there are not enough staff to process the mail.

If you are having problems and/or delays in receiving your mail sent from an IDOC facility, or your loved one is not receiving your mail, you can file a complaint with the Postal Inspectors with the United States Postal Service (usps.com).