Idaho Prison Blog

In a recently posted article on this page (WHEN A GUARD HATES A PRISONER - OR THE GREAT TORTILLA CAPER - THAT NEVER WAS ), Dale Shackelford described how ISCC staff failed/refused to investigate or even look into unsubstantiated and refuted claims of theft before accusing and firing him from his long-held job in the Close Custody unit. It is now known (too late) that Shackelford did not bring the tortillas to the unit - and did not steal anything. Unfortunately, it's happened again. Correctional Officer (guard) * CENSORED BY IDOC INVESTIGATIONS * (who's dislike for Shackelford was outed in the posted article) has now accused Shackelford of harassing him for providing him with an emailed copy of the posted article. According to a Discplinary Offense Report filed against Shackelford by * CENSORED BY IDOC INVESTIGATIONS * he opened the email at 11:52 pm on January 17, 2021. Within just a few hours, * CENSORED BY IDOC INVESTIGATIONS * had written and filed the DOR. "Offender S...

In a previous article posted on this site, it was divulged that ISCC administrators have been allowing quarantined prisoners to mingle with others outside the quarantine area. It is much worse than initially thought. On January 12, 2021 inmate workers housed (under quarantine) in F Block (including at least 1 who had tested positive for COVID-19 within 2 weeks prior) were called to work in G Block to perform duties, including, but not limited to the serving of meals to other inmates who are themselves under quarantine - many who were transferred to the ISCC from Community Work Centers specifically for quarantine status. In a January 13, 2021 reply to a Concern form asking about the scope of the quarantine status in F Block, ISCC Warden Jay Christensen stated, "Quarantine is confined to cells. Some essential workers are allowed out". While there has been no published definition of "essential worker", here are just some examples of those inmate workers who are being a...

On Tuesday, January 5, 2021, the ISCC began (re)testing prisoners for the coronavirus. According to medical staff, all prisoners on the units being tested would be locked down until results of the tests came back, and those prisoners who tested positive would be quarantined in their cell (along with their cell partner - whether or not the cell partner tested positive). While "Quarantine" signs popped up on a few cell doors a couple days later, and medical staff confirmed that all tests were back, entire tiers remained locked down - except for a few inmates who were allowed to leave the unit to work in various areas of the facility. Without explanation as to why the lockdown continued, frustration levels among the inmate population increased. In an email to unit staff a week after the lockdown, ISCC Lieutenant Nicodemus explained that the reason that prisoners were still on lockdown (and only allowed out of their cells - one cell at a time - 20 minutes per day, and only then a...

Thanksgiving morning, 2020. ISCC Correctional Officer (C/O or guard) Tanya Young opened my cell door at about 5 am as I was preparing for my day. "Don't bother coming to work," she told me with a smirk, "We found the tortillas." "Okay," I replied, "But there should have been a whole case of them." Looking at me like I was something stuck on the bottom of her shoe, she tells me, "There was - and officer Akins fired you." She then closed and locked the cell door with a haughty satisfaction and walked jubilantly away. It didn't start there. In fact, this had been going on for almost 2 years when I first started working in G Block - the Close Custody unit at the ISCC. Although officially listed as the G Block Foyer janitor, my job entailed much more than the cleaning of floors and bathrooms. Shortly after I started working in that unit, guard Casey Moffett made clear his intense dislike for me, but for what reason he disliked me I n...

Hello All- What a year 2020 has been. Im not going to dwell on all the challenges we faced this year we experienced it and honestly, going through it once was more than enough. But, I want to take a moment to give thanks and maybe even offer a bit of hope for what lies ahead in 2021. First of all, the pandemic required everyone to behave in new ways and I express my deep appreciation to those of you who jumped into action to make more than 55,000 masks to help keep everyone at IDOC safe. You produced enough masks that we were able to donate thousands to local community agencies too. We also had people stepping up to learn how to use new sanitizing foggers and take on additional cleaning duties. Everyone rolled with the punches, including moves that allowed us to create dedicated housing units to better manage the pandemic. I know its been especially hard to have movement in the facilities limited and to not have in-person visitation, and I thank you for cooperation. Were currently work...

There can be little doubt that masks of any type covering the face and mouth are beneficial against the spread of airborne viral and bacterial contagions, with some masks working better than others. Some masks do little more than obscure the face while allowing snot-rocket globs the size of gummy bears to get through, while others are designed specifically to trap or prevent even virus sized particles from transferring in or out. The masks provided to staff and prisoners at the ISCC are somewhere in between (though leaning towards the snot-rocket end of the spectrum) and are being mischaracterized by prison administrators as medical/surgical quality masks. ISCC Town Hall Meeting minutes from September 1, 2020, minutes reveal the following conversations and orders from administrators regarding the wearing of masks in the facility: * MASKS * All IDOC offenders and staff are mandated to wear medical/surgical masks, which are provided by the IDOC * Masks can not be ordered from Amazon and ...

When an inmate seeks protective custody because of pressures originating or culminating in his housing tier (a misnomer) at the ISCC, not only is that inmate removed from the tier, but the remaining population of the tier - from 80 to 100 men - are locked down as punishment, preventing those left behind from enjoying video visits, going to work, school or programs required by the parole board, heating meals, showering, or even using the toilet in private. These total lock downs can last anywhere from a few days to over a week. Although staff refuse to provide any outright official justification as to why these lock downs occur, there are mutterings that is is for investigatory purposes, to allow staff to figure out exactly who was involved, and what role they played the activities, be it a fight, or an inmate seeking protective custody. While that may well be a valid justification (not that justifications are necessary I suppose), it is rarely the case, as most lock downs occur when th...

One of the few positives in prison is the opportunity to receive an academic or vocational education that many prisoners never received on the streets. In addition to curbing recidivism, whether through preparation for employment or simply through learning responsibility of regular attendance, the prison classroom is usually considered sacrosanct, a place of learning, away from the hustle and bustle of the regular prison atmosphere - until that is, the teacher becomes a guard. While teachers in most prison classrooms will carry a radio, wear a staff identification card and have the authority to hand out disciplinary reports, they are usually considered by prisoner students above all else, educators. These people wear civilian clothing, and generally have a willingness to communicate with prisoners as would a teacher on the streets - within certain boundries of course - but once they are seen acting as a guard, that facade is gone. At the ISCC, teachers and vocational class instructors ...

Imagine going to the doctor and being tested for AIDS, HIV or some other life-threatening disease, only to have the doctor inform you that he cannot tell you the results of the test. Imagine the anger, worry and the anguish you and your family would go through - the not knowing. In what can be described only as ridiculous, prisoners at the ISCC are being informed that they have no right to know the results of COVID-19 tests performed on them. This means that prisoners who have been tested, in most cases, have no idea whether or not they have actually contracted the virus, or might still have the disease. This is leading to frustration, anger and resentment which will certainly come to a head in the days or weeks to come as more prisoners are quarantined without even knowing whether or not they are, or ever were sick. Idaho law actually allows prison officials to keep secret all records of a prisoner - including medical records - even from the prisoner him/herself. The statute (Idaho Co...

For months, hundreds of IDOC prisoners have been locked down to various degrees due to the coronavirus pandemic. In an effort to mitigate the frustrations associated with the changes made throughout the system and provide mandatory access to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), IDOC administrators have worked with JPay to provide prisoners with educational videos, tablet-based games, the ability to download videograms to tablets over Wifi, and most importantly, the ability to review IDOC policies and procedures. Unfortunately, most prisoners - even those who have tablets - do not have access to these apps. Prisoners who own tablets which are more than a year old have complained to JPay for quite some time that games they have purchased are not available to play on their tablet. When the educational videos were introduced, they too were unavailable to these prisoners and no amount of complaining has helped. JPay denies that these media won't download and they are correct, the softw...