ISCC GOES BACK ON COVID PROTOCOLS - BUT THE IMPLEMENTATION AND TIMING SEEMS AWFUL "CONVENIENT"
On June 22, 2022 prisoners at the ISCC learned that the institution will be going back to Covid-19 protocols the morning of June 23, meaning that prisoners will be segregated (or "cohorted") - in this instance - by housing unit. This also means that recreation, education, programming and inmate work details will be restricted or cancelled altogether. A moratorium on inter-unit cell (housing) moves will also be in effect. Mask mandates for both staff and prisoners alike are also reinstated.
That's what is SUPPOSED to happen.
Although there has been no memorandum posted, email received or other official notification of the status change, there was said to have been a news report on KIVI TV Channel 6 on the evening of June 22 that visitation in all IDOC facilities has been suspended. The visitation suspension (until at least July 9, 2022) has been verified through an independent source.
On the morning of June 23, it became somewhat clear that there had been some movement/cohorting restrictions put into place, yet many inmates were released to move about the facility and to go to work where they mingle with inmates and staff from different housing units and cohorts. Several of the jobs to which the inmates were released (to work in other housing units/areas) are not (or should not be) considered critical (braille transcription class for example), yet the laundry for the entire facility was shut down, leaving damp, dirty clothes, linen, rags, mops and other items to mold and mildew in every housing unit for at least another 48 hours before being washed.
As late as June 22, facility medical staff leaked information that there have been no recent reported cases of Covid-19 amongst the prisoner population at the ISCC, but did state that at least one officer recently tested positive for the virus. Other staff have voiced their belief that the IDOC reimplementing covid protocols is pretextual, citing staff shortages, the upcoming 4th of July holiday and scheduled vacations as the real reason for reimplementing the protocols. This is supported by administrators allowing nonessential "workers" to move about the facility, and approving inter-unit cell moves AFTER the implementation of the protocols, making the protocols ineffective and fruitless.
With the reimplementation of these protocols, and the closure of visitation, logic would dictate that prisoners would once again receive the 2 free telephone calls and estamps each week, however there has been no word on the matter.
It is suggested that if you plan to visit any IDOC prisoner in the near future, contact the facility in which the prisoner is assigned for information on the status of visitation at that particular facility. You can find contact information for every IDOC facility by clicking on the IDAHO PRISON FACILITY INFORMATION link in the sidebar of this site.
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