Idaho Prison Blog

MESSAGE FROM KEEFE MENU ITEMS TO: RESIDENT POPULATION FROM: KEEFE COMMISSARY NETWORK DATE: 2-16-2022 Keefe has sourced a new religious medallion which is an ANKH Sterling Silver. The item number is 5480 and the price is $25.00. We have also sourced a new supplier for Vitamins: The item numbers are as follows: 0685 Vitamin C 90 Count $3.25 0699 Multi-Vitamin Performance 60 Count $5.65 These will be available for purchase on Monday 2-21-2022 PRICES DONT INCLUDE IDAHO STATE SALES TAX Thank you, Keefe Commissary IDOC -Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline -Free Call (208) 398-HELP (4357) /////////////////// 2/2/22 Dear JPay Customer, Celebrate Black History month and honor all those who have made a difference. Weve created special savings to help inspire you all month long. Be sure to visit the Media Store for great deals on select movies, musicand games from Feb. 1 to Feb. 28, 2022! And, please make sure you regularly update your media catalogs in order to see the special prices: Music: $1.00 ...

Since there has been absolutely no recognition of a systemic problem (light's on - nobody home) that is costing JPay thousands of dollars in replacement tablets, and a lot prisoners a whole bunch of stomach-lining, I'm going to escalate the issue to you in hopes somebody actually reads this (unlike the Trouble Ticket screeners who just keep sending the same canned responses knowing - or simply not caring - they are ineffective). Hundreds of prisoners are not able to get their photos/attachments older than a few months loaded on their JP6s tablet [FN 1]. Trouble Ticket canned responses instruct prisoners to put the tablet in RECOVERY mode (using the Power/Volume Up button...) ...THAT'S THE PROBLEM! The JP6s tablet DOES NOT go into Recovery mode in this - or by any other discernible means - before or after any shutdown, hard or not (therefore, subsequently syncing with the kiosk does not give any update as the Trouble ticket informs will happen). The old tablets (JP5s) would ...

Granted, there are a lot of things not to like in prison (for prisoners and staff alike), but when the basic functionality of a prison breaks down - and nothing is done to correct it - bad things can and will happen. Since the first days of their reacting to the pandemic, ISCC administrators, like authorities around the world, have been flopping to and fro, trying to figure out what to do, or how to do it. Like everywhere, at times, prison staff have gotten it wrong - really wrong - and while there are a few things they've gotten right (like feeding prisoners in their housing units), their worst failures involve intentionally allowing the basic services provided to (and paid for by) prisoners to fail and continuing to either ignore or refuse to correct problems - some which have been going on for months. For Example: > For more than 5 months, virtually every local television channel on the ISCC cable system drops out (no signal) then comes back on seconds to minutes later - seve...

On January 31, 2022 Idaho governor Brad Little activated 75 Idaho National Guard troops support health care providers around the state, as well as staff of the Idaho Department of Correction. As of the time of this writing, mainstream press had not announced how many military personnel were assigned to prisons. In a speech to the House Judiciary Committee earlier in the day IDOC Director Josh Tewalt told state Representatives that 201 IDOC employees were out either with a confirmed case of Covid-19, or had direct contact with someone known to be positive with Covid. This means each of these employees is sitting at home is on paid leave. Meanwhile, because one inmate tested positive for Covid on unit F3 at the ISCC, (and was immediately removed to a quarantine area) 44 other prisoners are on lockdown for the next 2 weeks (though the CDC recommends only a 5 day period of observation). Ironically, a guard that accompanied the covid-positive inmate to a local hospital for diagnosis served ...

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Once again JPay is refusing to take steps to fix the conflict between the firmware in the JP6s tablets (actually a modified Android tablet) and the email app. According to an expert on Android tablet technology who recently examined the applications and operating systems in a Jp6s, JPay has screwed around so much with the firmware (some under the guise of security and others for unexplained reasons) that most installed apps cannot operate as designed. Further, most of the applications installed are not sufficient or recommended for the operating system - likely due to JPay using "freeware" in an effort to save money. JPay (trouble ticket) representatives continue to send "canned" responses to prisoners who report problems with their tablets - and to make matters worse, their instructions to prisoners of a means to repair the problem neither work, or even apply to the JP6s tablets. For example, most canned responses instruct prisoners to "reboot" the tablet...

In a recent search for positive information on the JPay music site I discovered a genre of albums (for $15 and change, plus tax) titled "Subliminal Positive Affirmations for Change" by Subliminal Healing Group. I first noted that JPay had removed the actual album cover icons (from EVERY album in the system) and replaced them with one of about ten stock photos (I figured that when I purchased an album, I am entitled to the original cover as well as the cover is downloaded to the tablet along with the music, etc.). Even more disturbing is that JPay has taken it upon themselves to censor (remove) tracks of the album - and while there is no indication of WHAT (name of the track) they pulled from the Positive Affirmations album (it now simply bears the word **CENSORED** amid other tracks) - and there are hundreds of edited / censored tracks in albums used in Positivity Training. Indeed, JPay - not the IDOC - has not only removed albums/songs from their available media which do not...

When something goes wrong, where does one place the blame? In most instances, people tend to blame the weather, unforseen circumstances or equipment failure long before citing human error. In each and every case however, human error - somewhere in the line of events - is to blame. Let's take for example the loss of satellite television programming during inclement weather (we'll use snow in this case). When a satellite dish (or the horn) is covered with snow, there can be degradation of the signal below the threshold of viability to the point that programming is not available. At this point, most people argue that the weather is the culprit, and indeed, on-screen information may well inform the end-user that it's the fault of weather, trees, etc... but look further. Had someone properly aligned the dish to the satellite, the problem may not have occurred as the signal strength may have been sufficient to overcome any amount of snow covering the dish/horn. If the strength of...

///////// MESSAGE FROM IDOC WORK OPPORTUNITY South Idaho Correctional Institution (SICI) is now accepting applications for experienced electricians, either those who previously held journeymen level license or apprentices with a minimum of one year experience working in an industrial or commercial setting. An upcoming project, the PRC Building remodel, will provide a total of $3.00 per hour to qualified/selected applicants. The scope of this project is anticipated to last four (4) to eight (8) weeks and offers a $250 bonus to qualified/selected applicants upon the final inspection. Once the project is complete, those selected are welcome to remain employed with our Maintenance Department at the prevailing wage (described below), or pursue employment opportunities with SICI Vocational Work Projects. Trades we are currently hiring for at $2.00 per hour are: Heavy Equipment Operators Welders / fabricators Concrete workers Plumbers HVAC technicians Electricians Automotive technicians Farmi...

In a memorandum provided to inmates late Friday (1/14/22) Warden Randy Valley informed prisoners they would again be locked down due to Covid concerns - not that anyone has tested positive mind you - but because counties in which the prison is located has seen a recent rise in cases. Warden Valleys' memorandum followed closely an email to prisoners from Bree Derrick, Deputy Director of Prisons received 1/14/22 stating Idaho prisons (including ISCC) would be on a "modified-secure status". Typically this means prisoners in units with cells would have access to the dayroom, but could not leave the tier. Instead, Warden Valley makes it clear there will be only 20 minutes of dayroom, per day, per inmate - the time in which any phone call, shower, commissary orders, heating of meals or other activities must be completed. Of course, this does not apply to those privileged inmates who make money for prison administrators to skim from the blind and deaf or belong to the administra...