Idaho Prison Blog

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...