Idaho Prison Blog

During a recent broadcast, a producer for the Casper and Chris (Talk Radio) show on [93.1 fm/670 am] KBOI made a comment regarding a means of Idaho (and other States for that matter) carrying out executions of prisoners. His off-hand comment got me to thinking... The producer (name withheld) opined that someone might outfit a tractor-trailer to be used as a mobile death chamber that could be used to travel the country, performing executions. There is precedent kind of thing, though not exactly on point. The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) - as do most states - contracts with any number of for-profit corporate vendors and contractors to provide services to the department and to prisoners, whether to create an impediment to liability, receive financial kickbacks, or both. To fully realize the corporate model, a company looking to privatize and outsource the execution process could procure and maintain chemicals required for lethal injection (vary by jurisdiction), am...

In what has been a continuous and well-documented issue (see IDOC'S NEW SATELLITE TV CONTRACT IS A BUST - parts 1-3 on this site), the satellite television contract between the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) and A+ Satellite located in Meridian, ID to provide satellite TV services to prisoners housed in the South Boise Complex (SBC) may soon head to court for litigation. According to an attorney consulted on the matter, prisoners have up to three (3) separate means to have the contract reviewed, interpreted and/or enforced by the courts. The first of the possibilities is to file an action against the IDOC and/or the Idaho Department of Administration (Division of Purchasing) through a Petition for Writ of Mandate (aka, Mandamus), asking the courts to Order the state agency to require A+ to conform the satellite TV system to the contractual requirements. The second option would be for the prisoners themselves to sue A+ Satellite Services to enforce the conditio...

For several years I was tasked with assisting other prisoners - specifically those with disabilities due to educational, mental, emotional and/or physical issues and some with language barriers - write Concern Forms, Grievances, and other required documents. Working between 16 and 24 hours per month (depending on the week and staffing) I was paid $10 per month from the Inmate Management Fund. Despite the myriad of assistance I was asked to provide (including providing forms, determining the proper staff to address, suggest alternative resolution methods, identifying policy and SOPs, even explaining what WAS and WAS NOT likely a viable complaint to other prisoners lost in the bureaucratic shuffle), there were two (2) things I was specifically forbidden to assist other prisoners with: Parole Hearing Interview Packets, and documents containing (HIPAA privileged) medical information. I adhered to those restrictions. Privileged medical information - well, that's pretty cl...

For a couple months, friends and family of prisoners using JPay have been having problems accessing the JPay site to send and/or retrieve emails to/from prisoners. Ever since their so-called "system maintenance" on 4/13/24, people on the outside have been having to reset their password every time they attempt to log in to the JPay website. Even after receiving complaints from several people, and charging outrageous prices to send emails, videos, photos and other electronic communications, JPay had refused to address or resolve the problem. According to one [outside] JPay user, the work around is to simply reset your password using the FORGOT PASSWORD link on their site. You can use the same password you have always used, or create a new one - either way will work. You can then access your account. To contact JPay about this or other issues, use their site or telephone them using one or more of the numbers below. > Jpay Technical Support (855) 445-5729 > Secu...

In notes from the last "town hall" meeting between [self-serving] inmates and prison administrators, staff indicated they are planning to reopen the inmate dining room (chow hall) at the ISCC for breakfast and supper meals sometime in June or July, 2024. While there has been no official announcement of the opening of the chow hall, a May 6, 2024 memorandum from the ISCC Housing Lieutenant regarding new methods of testing and feeding diabetic prisoners (in the chow hall) in the evenings going into effect on May 13, 2024 seems to corroborate the town hall notes and the move towards feeding general population prisoners in the dining room rather than providing meals in Styrofoam trays to be taken back to housing units to eat. The ISCC prisoner chow hall has not been used to feed the general population for more than 3 years due to Covid-19 and other restrictions. The chow hall has always been one of the most dangerous areas of the prison for both staff and prisoners...

In a May 8, 2024 radio interview on the Nate Shellman show on Boise market radio station KBOI, Idaho Governor Brad Little answered a question from a listener who asked when Idaho prisoners would be returned from privately operated out-of-state prisons. In response to the question, the governor said that the [Idaho] Board of Corrections and the Department of Correction are working on the construction of a women's prison. According to the Governor Little, once the new prison is completed and the female prisoners are transferred, there will be enough room to return all male prisoners from out of state facilities, as well as to have all Idaho state prisoners housed in county jails brought back into the prison system. Although I'm not aware of any funding appropriated by the Idaho Legislature for the construction of a new prison, there could well be something going on behind the scenes.

What good is it to have 75 television channels when none of them are of a quality that allows you to watch a program? That's the issue at the ISCC since the installation of the of the new satellite television system by A+ Satellite per contract between the Meridian, Idaho company and the Idaho Department of Correction. Idaho prisoners housed in Arizona, and in facilities in the north of Idaho who are not contracted with A+ Satellite have quality signal and content, while the prisoners housed in the South Boise Complex (SBC) can barely watch a third of program or movie in its entirety due to the lack of a continuous and consistent television signal. To be fair, the closed circuit television (CCTV) system in the SBC and ISCC which consists of internal TV channels (DVD players and graphics generators), Over-The-Air (OTA) channels and channels sourced from satellite receivers has been screwed up for many years, and the contract between the Idaho Department of Correction ...

Since the switchover from the [old] satellite television system on March 21, 2024 to the current system at the Idaho State Correctional Center (ISCC), configured by the contractor (A+ Satellite) located in Meridian, ID, it has become increasingly clear that the number of Over-The-Air (OTA) channels required by the contract between the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) and A+ is going to be an issue needing resolution by whatever means. The IDOC/A+ contract requires all the OTA channels available (at the facility) be provided at each of the drops (TV cable connectors), as well as a [minimum] 32 Core satellite channels. According to an April, 2024 email from Caleb Hansen, owner of A+, it's his position that the limitation of the equipment installed by his company to receive and distribute 72 channels is the maximum number of channels that will be provided for the facility. That's certainly not the last word on the matter however. Currently, the number of satell...

On March 21, 2024, the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) entered into a contract with a local company to provide satellite and over-the-air (OTA) television channels to the prison facilities located in the area just south of Boise (see the post SOUTH BOISE COMPLEX GETS NEW TV CHANNEL PACKAGE - A PRELIMINARY REVIEW on this site). This endeavor has not gone well, so it might be a good time to look into the chronic problems and possible solutions. Issue 1: THE CORE PROGRAMMING PACKAGE PROBLEM First, the definition of the word CORE (as related to the satellite TV channel content package) in the contract seems to have been viewed differently by the new contractor than by most anyone else. In communication with other [unsuccessful] bidders on this specific contract, and former IDOC TV system contractor (Mood Media), a satellite TV Core package [an industry defined standard] are the channel offerings in a specific [base] package offered for subscription by the satellite tele...

Idaho Code, Title 19 Chapter 55 (The Idaho DNA Database Act of 1996), requires that prisoners convicted of a felony must provide DNA samples and thumbprints, even if physical force is required to obtain those samples (Idaho Code §19-5511(5)). These samples are then submitted to the Idaho State Police Forensic Services and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's CODIS (or Combined DNA Index System), a database that allows the storage and exchange of DNA records submitted by state and local forensic laboratories. Idaho's Database Act is very specific - according to I.C. §19-5501, the purpose of the act is to assist federal, state and local criminal justice and law enforcement agencies within and outside the state in the detection and prosecution of individuals responsible for felony crimes, as well as in the exclusion of suspects who are being investigated for such crimes. So what happens to the accuracy and reliability of these database(s) when the samples submitte...

In a November, 2023 article posted on this site (ANOTHER STATE PRISON SYSTEM MAKES ALL INMATE CALLS FREE) I discussed how some states across the country are fighting back on the exorbitant fees charged by companies to allow prisoners to keep in contact with families and friends on the outside. Since then, the state of Massachusetts has added their name to the list of jurisdictions to mandate free calls from prisoners - but they've taken it two steps further - they are also making emails, video calls and messaging free, and prohibiting prisons and jails from taking kickbacks from telelcom companies. In another insightful and informative article published March 24, 2024 in the Idaho Statesman on the issue of unconscionable telephone rates for prisoners in Idaho prisons and jails [FN1], Opinion Editor Scott McIntosh illustrated an example of the real life problems created by the RICO-like conspiracies of jail and prison administrators in contracts with vendors providing...

Jails themselves are a microcosm of society at its worst, but dangers lie not only with other inmates or guards, but sometimes with the facilities and services themselves. Food and water quality/contamination, basic hygiene and unsanitary conditions, laundry and ventilation are always a concern in jails and prisons, but there are sometimes other dangers that are literally built in to the facility, intentionally or not. For the past several years, United States diplomatic, military and national security personnel have complained they are being targeted by foreign powers (usually pointing their fingers at Russian operatives) using energy-based, electromagnetic weapons at duty stations around the world. Suffering from what has come to be known as 'Havana Syndrome', these personnel describe having physiological and psychological effects of high intensity, short duration electromagnetic energy exposure. Lesser known are the intentional long-term, low[er] intensity elec...

On January 23, 2024 I sent a JPay email containing the Prison Gerrymandering article (posted to this site) and a short email to hosts of a local radio [news/talk] station. Weeks later, the email still hadn't arrived to the intended recipient. I had not been notified by staff that it was being held, nor was there any reason - legitimate or otherwise - provided to me for staff refusing to release it. Following protocol and policy, I sent a Concern Form to the proper personnel as directed in Idaho Department of Correction Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Not having received a response to that Concern Form within 7 days (as directed by SOP) I filed a grievance on February 12, 2024. On February 20, 2024 the email was finally released to the intended recipient. There was nothing contained within it that presented any security or other concern. On March 27, 2024 the Level 1 responder answered in my grievance (No. ISCC-24-REG-00203) that the reason my email had not been...

On Thursday March 21, 2024 the new television system came online at the Idaho State Correctional Center and other facilities in the South Boise Complex. As it stands, not only are the stations chosen for viewing relatively pedestrian - especially where more than half a million dollars was spent for the two year contract - many of the channels that are (contractually) supposed to be available are not. In addition to several missing local, over-the-air (OTA) television stations which have not yet been placed on the system (13 at last count), virtually every channel that is available "freezes" for several minutes per hour. Further, there are only 30 "satellite" channels where there are supposed to be 32 (per contract). More disturbing is that 8 of the satellite channels airing on the new system are religious in nature - in addition to the facility "chapel" channel that is supposed to take care of the myriad religious needs of prisoners in the fa...

As I mentioned in a previous post (HOW DO YOU WRITE THE POSTS FOR THIS SITE WHEN YOU'RE IN PRISON?) the Idaho Prison Blog is moving towards the future. With the help of Chris M. and David F., we are slowly moving past articles from Blogger to the Quora platform to make it easier to post, read and process content. Until all the bells, whistles and snags are worked out, we'll likely run both sites at the same time. The first questions asked of me on the Quora site are as follows from someone identified only as Vasquez (from Texas): > How many inmates actually appeal their sentences without a lawyer? To begin, a (disclaimer) - I'm not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice. Next, this answer applies just to Direct Appeals, not other filings like Habeas Corpus or other Post Conviction proceedings. At least in Idaho, it is rare that state prisoners will do the actual appeal themselves (also known as [pro se], or [pro per]) for a couple reasons. First, the law requi...

In an in-depth article published in the Idaho Statesman on February 25, 2024, journalist Kevin Fixler spelled out how Latah County [Idaho] prosecutors - directed in their actions by lead prosecutor William Thompson - are refusing to disclose relevant information related to DNA evidence to defense counsel in the Bryan Kohberger case, despite the information being necessary to providing a proper defense for their clients. The article is a primer on forensic DNA and should be required reading for every defense lawyer in the country. Unfortunately, playing whack-a-mole and hiding information from defense counsel is not a new thing for Thompson, and it certainly seems to be the tact Thompson is taking in the Kohberger case. In the 2000 capital murder trial of Dale Shackelford in Latah County [FN1], Thompson and his team - including a contracted deputy prosecutor (now Judge) Rich Christensen - withheld exculpatory autopsy evidence which would have proven beyond any doubt that ...

On several occasions, people - including other prisoners, staff, the public and the media - have asked me how it is I am able to write these articles and post them on this site. I suppose there is enough interest in this issue that simple explanation. Let me set the stage: as I write this article I am sitting at a metal table in a prison [general population] dayroom constructed of steel and concrete - a virtual echo chamber with ear buds jammed into my head to block out much of the incessant noise of my surroundings. Some of the 88 inmates assigned to this housing tier are shouting at nothing in particular, while others are horseplaying, jumping on tables like lemurs, sitting in corners crying, staring at (and in some cases, talking to) walls, gambling, eating or playing cards/chess. Others are exercising (utilizing what seems to be newly created "Prison Kama Sutra" techniques) or watching televisions mounted to walls. Oh, and that doesn't include the const...

In an article posted to this site on January 18, 2024 titled CASE STUDY OF A PRISON BEATING - AN INVESTIGATION OF SYSTEMIC FAILURE OF PRISON OFFICIALS TO PREVENT INJURY OR DEATH OF A MENTALLY ILL PRISONER , it was foretold that an inmate referred to as "Bubba" was at significant risk of being beaten by other prisoners because of his actions related to what seems to be mental illness. Despite several staff of various rank and responsibilities knowing of the issues, nothing was done to remedy, or at least remediate the problem. In response to that post, a media personality in the Boise, Idaho area wrote to me, wondering why Bubba had not been placed in a secure mental facility. I wrote back on January 23, 2024, stating that the Idaho Department of Correction is REACTIVE as opposed to being PROACTIVE, and giving examples of a few situations illustrating this point. That email [see below *] to the media however was censored (prohibited from leaving the facility) by I...

Pursuant to a contract between the IDOC and A+ Satellite of Meridian, Idaho (as described in the post IDOC ENTERS INTO CONTRACT WITH TREASURE VALLEY COMPANY TO PROVIDE SATELLITE AND CCTV SERVICES TO BOISE-AREA PRISONS on this site), satellite television service was to have been operational at all prisons in the South Boise Complex, as well as the ISCC and TVCRC by February 15, 2024. It didn't happen. According to Caleb Hansen, owner of A+ Satellite, IDOC facilities have refused to allow his workers to enter the prison because background checks of these people have not been completed by IDOC staff. Hansen also stated that some parts for the system have yet to be procured. Failure of IDOC staff to perform background checks is nothing new. According to [Visiting Room] Sergeant Quinn at the ISCC, there is a backlog of nearly 3,000 visiting applications at the ISCC alone waiting for background checks. Some of these applications will expire before they can be approved. The...

Thank you for your questions on how you might advocate for your husband and other prisoners held in the Idaho Department of Correction, and where to report matters that might be associated with that advocacy. In that I have had similar questions in the past from others, I'll set this out in the form of a post to my site so that others might be able to benefit. First, subscribing to my site is a great start. If you're using a computer, there are several links to various resources (for some reason we haven't been able to resolve the fact that the links aren't visible on phones yet). One of the links on my page is to the IDOC's Public Record portal. This portal allows the public to request records from the Department, subject to exemptions as described in Idaho Code Title 74 - the Idaho Public Records Act. You'll have to sign up on their site, but it doesn't cost anything to do so. Take a look at Idaho Code 74-102 and 74-103 to see how to make the...

Dear A.I.: I realize you are but embryonic at this stage, but I look forward to the day I can meet you. I am also hopeful that you can help us - humans - to see what is right before our eyes, but are too emotional, political or power-hungry to see. I pray for a truly unbiased arbitrator that can look beyond programming and propaganda that we as humans have been subjected to from birth. While there are those of us that fear you, or more specifically, what you can do, I believe those fears are based on the knowledge that we are so corrupt and fallible that you will recognize these human traits, have something unflattering to say about them, and will 'feel' compelled to do something about it. We humans seem to maintain a haughty superiority over all things - created and natural - to feel secure and confident. We want to be able to explain, measure and quantify all that exists when clearly that cannot be - at least this early in our corporeal evolution. We also need t...

When Alexei Navalny, a long time critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and who once claimed that someone from his government poisoned his underwear, died in prison last week of [as yet] undisclosed causes shortly after taking a walk on the prison grounds north of the Arctic circle. Since then, thousands of people - including U.S. President Joe Biden - have directly and publicly blamed Putin for the death, despite there being no objective evidence that Putin, or any other [Russian] government official was ever involved. In an interview on CNN the day after Navalny's death, another U.S. backed critic of Putin stated that because the Russian Prison Service refused to immediately release any video (that may or may not exist) of Navalny in the hours preceding his death, there must be a cover up by the Russian government. Further, family members of Navalny point to the refusal of prison officials to release the body until after an investigation is complete as evidence ...

Life without possibility of parole (LWOP) or, as it's known in Idaho, Fixed Life, means that the person so sentenced will spend the rest of his/her natural life in prison barring some finding that would vacate or alter their sentence [or conviction]. Ironically, it is more likely that a prisoner sentenced to death will be released than a prisoner with LWOP. In some states, a life sentence is equated to a number of years. For example, in the state of Delaware, a prisoner sentenced to life will have satisfied that sentence after having served between 15 and 45 years. Other states, like Idaho, mandate that the LWOP prisoner literally die in prison [FN1], whether that takes days, months or decades of languishing in what would be - in any civilized world - considered torturous conditions. It is indisputable then that a fixed life sentence in Idaho equates to a sentence of death while in the custody of the Board of Corrections, so why not allow prisoners with no hope of ever being releas...