Idaho Prison Blog

Gerrymandering - legally defined as "An unfair method adopted by a political party in control of the legislature, whereby the boundaries of election districts are altered and arranged as to prevent a majority vote in such districts in favor of the opposing political party." As a practical matter, it means fixing the boundary lines of legislative districts so as to give an unfair advantage to one political party. Based on U.S. Census records, the state legislature creates districts throughout the state based on population records. College students, military personnel, boarding schools and temporary residents are counted by the Census Bureau at their home address, but in Idaho, state prisoners are counted at the address of the prison - giving some districts (particularly Idaho Legislative Districts 14 - 22) inflated population numbers. Because state prisoners are not allowed to vote, and may never again be allowed to vote after having been convicted, it is rare that any state R...

Beatings of prisoners by other prisoners (and by staff) are unfortunately more common than reported by the media. Even when such beatings result in permanent injury, or even death, the Idaho Department of Correction often refuse to acknowledge the assaults, do their best to keep video of the incidents out of the hands of the public, and certainly cover up the fact that they knew (or should have known) the beatings would occur. Let's look at an example of what will certainly result in the beating of a prisoner at the ISCC if staff fail to intervene in a timely manner. Inmate Bubba (not his real name due to prison regulations) has on several occasions been in fights because of his odd, annoying, threatening and assaultive behavior while in prison. Most recently, Bubba has been in two separate physical altercations with other prisoners over a dayroom television on tier F3, as Bubba likes to believe he is the person who decides what is watched, and who watches it. When Bubba doesn'...

In response to a public records request (PRR), the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) provided records which were prepared by an inmate for the specific purpose of disclosure as an official public record. Further, other official records disclosed pursuant to the same request provided false, misleading or denied existence of specific records known to exist, thereby subjecting state officials to consequences described in Idaho Code. On November, 22, 2023, Dale Shackelford submitted public record request #R016187-112223 asking for records which disclosed information related primarily to interactions between the IDOC and the administration-supported American Legion Post 201 [FN1], a [de facto] prison gang operating in the Idaho State Correctional Center (ISCC). After requesting and receiving clarification on one of the requests [FN2] the IDOC produced an email from Lawrence Stuhr, an instructor in the Idaho State Correctional Institution (ISCI) Education Department to Jeff Kirkman, a pr...

On 11/27/23 at 10:09 am, someone identified as C. Wellman at the Idaho State Correctional Center (ISCC) in Kuna, Idaho signed for and received 2 authorized packages addressed to prisoner Dale Shackelford. One of these packages was delivered to Shackelford on 12/4/23. Days later, it was clear the second package, with contents worth over $90.00, had disappeared. What to do... first, because Shackelford provided the sender of the packages (Blick Art Materials) with his email address with his order, he had emails from Blick detailing the Order number, and tracking numbers of each box (sent via FedEx) - along with a list of contents/value contained in each box. With help from a friend on the outside, Shackelford was able to track both packages and determined when and by whom they were received at the ISCC. Both boxes were delivered and signed for at the same time at the ISCC according to FedEx. Shortly after learning there were no IDOC employees named C. Wellman, Shackelford filed a public ...

Once in awhile I'll receive an email, a letter or postcard, asking me why I didn't write/post articles on various things which [obviously] have public interest regarding the Idaho Department of Correction or one of the facilities, staff or prisoners. Some believe I am caving in to administrative pressures not to write about specific subjects, others have suggested that I just don't care about some issues. Both are far from the truth. But, these are great question(s) all, so I'll do what I can to explain. First, I'm a prisoner - and not one of those inmates that receive special privileges and dispensations (including unlimited/unsupervised internet access, laptop computers and other unbelievable amenities) that I have described in several posts since this site began operation in November, 2017. This means that most of the information I am privvy to comes - at least initially - through rumor, grapevine, innuendo or leaks. Once I learn of an issue, I have to check it o...

Christmas dinner is a tradition in millions of households around the world, and in most prisons throughout the US. That tradition holds true in Idaho prisons as well, and while prison food cannot hold a Yuletide candle to a home-cooked meal prepared and served with loving hands and heart, and shared with family and friends, it is often better than the standard fare. In addition to the Christmas meal, prisoners at the ISCC were treated to miniature packages of small cookies (4 traditional Oreo cookies, 4 Nutter Butter cookies and 4 Chocolate chip). Later we received 2 more mini cookies (vanilla Oreos), a total of 14 cookies. Not bad considering the fact we received no cookies for the past few years during the Christmas holiday season. This year, the Christmas dinner menu at the Idaho State Correctional Center called for: 2.5 oz. Roasted Turkey 2.5 oz. Honey Roasted Ham 1/2 cup Corn Casserole 1/2 cup MASHED POTATOES 1/2 cup Poultry Gravy 1 cup Garden Salad 1 oz. Ranch Dressing 3.25 oz. P...