Idaho Prison Blog

As veteran readers of this site are certainly aware, when it comes to Thanksgiving, I always find things I am thankful for - even in my current surroundings - but the Thanksgiving meal served at the ISCC this year is not one of them. (Actually, that's not entirely true - I am thankful for what I received, and there are those who have it worse than I had/have it, and many have nothing, but you get the point) While the traditional turkey fare was replaced by pork (see the post IDOC PRISONERS WON'T EAT TURKEY THIS THANKSGIVING - TURKEYS REJOICE! on this site) the problem wasn't that. Even though the particular unit/tier where I am housed was first served, the food was cold, wet, coagulated and tasteless. While the menu called for specific amounts of each item, the portions actually provided fell far short of what the menu indicated was to be served, and the food felt (and tasted)... somehow... old and seemingly sad. Additional issues arose where inmates who put the food in the...

On Tuesday November 8, 2022 prisoners in F block at the ISCC were placed on "secure status" (i.e., locked in their cells for all but 20 minutes a day) despite medical staff stating there had been no recent confirmed or even suspected cases of Covid on the unit, and other staff continuing to confide that the lockdowns are due to staff shortages. These claims are supported by the fact that staff are not even wearing masks on the units or when in direct contact with prisoners. More than a full week later, the lockdown continues. Assuming there actually was an outbreak of Covid on the unit on or about 11/8/22, it would have already been spread throughout the entire facility as prisoners from every corner of the prison have been interacting in the hallways for weeks, patting each other on the back, shaking hands and having other [sometimes "icky"] forms of physical contact despite the "rolling lockdowns" across the prison. Prison administrators contend that the...

On 11/02/2022, IDOC prisoners received an email stating that the population won't be served the traditional turkey dinner this Thanksgiving. That email is recreated below in it's entirety. While the reasons stated for the turkeyless fare - if true - would seem to justify not serving the bird that was once considered a frontrunner for being the national symbol of the United States (narrowly losing out to the bald eagle), one can only hope that you (the readers) have a wonderful holiday season, and are able to enjoy the holiday, turkey dinner and all. Happy Thanksgiving to all! Dale. ############# Announcement: Thanksgiving menu 2022 As you may have heard, the US is currently experiencing one of the worst bird flu epidemics on record. Nearly 50 million birds have died from the disease so far, with 8 million of those being turkeys. The outbreak has greatly affected the supply of eggs and poultry. Although we've tried to avoid/delay menu changes as much as possible, our first m...

Last night, the nightly poker game conversation at the table next to me turned to familiar and every increasingly sore topics - television channels at the ISCC, and violence. It was this conversation, and subsequent actions by one of those players that reinforces my observations and confirms my continuing analysis: television - specifically quality television programming and signal - is as important in today's prisons as any amount of fencing or number of guards on a shift. In addition to the issues I have covered in the several articles I have written over the years (on this site) regarding the lack of maintenance, poor quality and programming of the TV cable system at the ISCC, on October 6, 2022, prisoners received the following email from an unknown author: //////////////////// "This message is in regard to television services provided by Mood Media for the DISH network. We are aware that the service is not working. We received an email today that said DISH instructed Mood...