Idaho Prison Blog

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

9/26/21 Dear JPay Customer, We have some great beginner games for those who are interested in trying out games AND they are priced at their deepest discounts. When you visit the Game Store, check out the Reduced Price category for a list of titles available for temporarily discounted prices! This discounted promotion will run until Thursday, October 7th, 2021. We hope these discounts help you enjoy playing more games! Warm regards, Your JPay Team ////////// 9/30/21 Dear JPay Customer Were thrilled to showcase a selection of popular Spanish-language movies during Hispanic Heritage Month. Titles include hits such as: Busco Novio Para Mi Mujer, A La Mala and Un Padre No Tan Padre. See the full list below, which are titles that are on sale in the media store for $3.99 until October 14, 2021. We hope you enjoy the selection of movies available. A La Mala Busco Novio Para Mi Mujer Como Si Furea La Primera Vez El Jeremias No Manches Frida No Se Aceptan Devoluciones Stand and Deliver (English

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

Since early 2020, inmate meals have been served in Styrofoam trays in each of the units or individual dayrooms rather than sending inmates to eat in the dining room (chow hall). Food is delivered to each unit on large carts, prisoners are called, and in single file, they walk by the cart and pick a tray (or 2) while staff "supervise" the procession. However, when a tier is locked down for one reason or another (which is occurring more and more often these days) staff have no problems wheeling the large cart into the tier to deliver trays to each cell. First, delivering food to the units is much more security conscious than is stuffing hundreds of inmates from different units into the chow hall where contraband is routinely passed and fights between inmates housed in different areas of the prison . yet eat together - are common. Staff responding to the assaults are literally surrounded and seriously outnumbered by frustrated prisoners during chow hall fights, with backup offic

As of September 30, 2021 the IDOC's contract with Corizon Health Services expired and was not renewed. The IDOC now contracts with Centurion Health Medical to provide medical services for Idaho prisoners. ________________________________ Information about the inside - from the inside, links to resources for prisoners and their loved ones, and more... Have your family and friends visit or subscribe to the Idaho Prison Blog today - log on to: www.idahoprisonblog.org - it's FREE!

About the time COVID-19 vaccinations became available for prisoners, ISCC Warden Jay Christensen told the inmate population that if they were to get vaccinated , they would not suffer the 14.day in-cell lock down whenever someone else on the tier tested positive for the illness. It was based on this promise alone that hundreds of prisoners subjected themselves to the vaccine when they would not have taken it otherwise. Christensen, on his way out of his position of Warden of the ISCC, along with incoming Warden Neville have reneged on this promise. In what is proported to be the Minutes of a Townhall Meeting held on September 30, 2021 [FN 1], Christensen - while acknowledging his promise to the inmate population that vaccinated prisoners would (still) have dayroom access if vaccinated - states "That is no longer the case." Such is the weight of promises Christensen further stated there was no prohibition or restrictions on guards moving between quarantined tiers and non-quara