Idaho Prison Blog

In a federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition filed February 15, 2023 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 23-90086 (CML)), Tehum Care Services, Inc., which did business in Idaho as Corizon Health Services, Corizon Health and Corizon, LLC, - the former contract provider of medical services for Idaho prisoners - admit they owe unknown millions of dollars in unsecured debt to St. Alphonsus and St. Lukes hospitals in Boise. In the Form 204 filed with their bankruptcy petition, Corizon listed St. Alphonsus as the number one unsecured creditor, while St. Luke's is listed as number two, both being owed more than any other creditors. Third on the list is the Capital Regional Medical Center at the University of Missouri, who Corizon admits owing $12M. Number 8 on the list is the Arizona Department of Corrections, who Corizon admits owing $2,615,593. Other entities owed money include law firms, medical service and product providers, laboratories, ...

In a late night email received by IDOC prisoners on February 16, 2023, JPay (and their now parent company Securus) Idaho state prisoners were informed that the reason for months of waiting for their prepaid tablets was, well... read it for yourself (here's the email we received): Dear IDOC Resident - We are aware that many of you are still awaiting tablet orders placed in November, December and even early January. Our company, Securus, recently went through a warehouse reorganization and the timeliness of our tablet order shipmentswas affected. This warehouse reorganization has been mostly completed and your orders are still on track for shipment. Your tablet orders are a priority for us, and we are diligently working to get them shipped to your facility. We appreciate your patience on this matter and apologize for any inconvience (Editor's Note: Yea, they spelled that wrong) it has caused. Thank you, Your JPay/ Securus Team As you can see, the JPay/Securus team is right behind...

In a January 31, 2023 memorandum recently made available to prisoners who use a facility-supplied laptop to access legal materials and files provided by state prosecutors, attorneys general and courts on electronic media (flash drives, DVDs, etc.), ISCC Deputy Warden McKay and (IDOC) Access to Courts Coordinator Sandi Frelly write, among other things, that "... Use of the laptop is restricted to only viewing legal materials. Any other use of the laptop may result in loss of data, materials, or use of the laptop." Although on its face, placing these restrictions on a state-owned laptop, (known as 'legal laptops") seems reasonable, one must consider other matters involved before jumping to that conclusion. First, although the state owns the computer, they refuse to allow (most) prisoners to purchase their own systems, so [we] must use the state-owned laptop. Second, in some situations, electronic files are the only media in which prisoners may receive their legal docum...

########## NOTE: I am familiar with the information presented below not from having participated in illegal or prohibited activities myself, but from having worked in an area of the ISCC for 2 years where the brew was created, discovered and confiscated virtually every day by staff who often discussed these issues in my presence, as well as current activities and conversations with and between officers. Further, some of my family are or have been moonshiners in and around Harlan County Kentucky, and have been for generations, so the process is not a secret. ########## In the past two weeks, teams of guards at the ISCC have conducted hundreds (if not thousands) of searches of prisoner housing and common areas for the ever-present (and referred to by its racially insensitive nickname) "squawky" - i.e., homemade alcohol, also known in other parts of the country as "hooch", "pruno" and "toilet whisky" (the latter because prisoners were known to hide ...

For months, JPay kiosks at the ISCC have been malfunctioning, and despite requests to both JPay and the IDOC for repairs, the system continues to prevent prisoners from syncing their tablets. The system operates like this (well, it's supposed to operate like this...): First order of business is that the tablet must be synchronized (sync'd) to one of the two wall-mounted kiosks on the unit/tier where the prisoner is housed. This is done by plugging the tablet into the kiosk using a micro USB cord that is permanently attached to the kiosk using a mechanical fastener. Once the kiosk recognizes the tablet and security credentials are created/verified, firmware on the tablet is updated, and certain applications (apps) are downloaded from the kiosk onto the tablet. The tablet is then good to go (in theory anyway). Due to a built-in mortality script, the tablet must by sync'd every so often to the kiosk or it will lock, preventing access even by the owner. Sometimes, the tablet ha...

At 12:45 pm on Thursday February 2, 2023 (unbeknownst to me as I had on headphones per policy) approximately 25 guards entered Unit F3 at the ISCC, opened cell doors and ordered all prisoners to go to "recreation". As going to recreation is traditionally voluntary (and cancelled more often than not due to staff shortages) and in the winter, usually involved going to the indoor gymnasium or weight room, most prisoners donned basketball shorts, t-shirts and little else. Only when they were forced outside into the snow-covered yard area did they realize the truth, and for those who were not dressed for temperatures in the mid-30's (with light winds making it feel like the low 30's) it was only then did they realize their mistake. To be clear, a few guards did tell some prisoners they would be going outside, but for some reason, that fact was not communicated to everyone. In my case, a guard came to my cell and said "If you go to rec, make sure to take your I.D....

In early January, 2023, some officers - based on bidding and other factors - were assigned to work at different posts. For some, these new posts were welcome, for others, not so much. In F block, one officer who was newly assigned started things out on a bad foot. During his very first shift on the unit, he "harassed" (as it is described) several (30-50) inmates on various matters. After several complaints to other staff about this officer's actions, the harassment of prisoners became worse. Scuttlebutt (i.e., rumor) held that staff this officer last worked with forced him out of their midst. On January 21, 2023 this guard spent inordinate amounts of time "searching" a handful of inmate cells, taking several items of authorized property, and reportedly destroying much more. Where most officers spend 5 to 20 minutes in an average search, this officer spent well more than an hour in each of the cells that evening. During a reported conversation with one of the pri...

As the price of eggs and other food continues to climb, the IDOC has decided to cut eggs from the common fare menu altogether. In a case filed in the United States District Court in 2017, (Bartlett v. Atencio, Case No. 1:17-cv-00191), the IDOC agreed to provide frozen kosher, unopened (double packaged) meals (known as Common Fare) to prisoners who request them. Since the first day they were served, IDOC staff have done everything they can to dissuade prisoners from signing up to receive the common fare meals, including (but certainly not limited to) purchasing the lowest quality and least popular meals available on the market. This has to do primarily with the cost of the meals, which is in excess of five times the cost of a traditional in-house (mainline) meal. The Monday, Wednesday and Friday common fare breakfast meals consist of a half cup of scrambled eggs and half a cup potatoes (mixed), a cup of diced, cooked carrots, cereal, and a half pint of milk. Sunday, Tuesday and Friday b...

In the past, "incentive" programs at the ISCC were held to allow prisoners who remained disciplinary offense report (DOR) free for a specific amount of time (usually 6 months) to order items (at their own cost) - usually food such as pizza, burgers, chicken, etc. - from local businesses. The businesses would realize a profit, and a markup of anywhere between 10 and 50 percent would cover [staff] labor costs, and delivery of the food, and an additional markup would be donated to a charity, such as the Idaho Food Bank, Boise Rescue Mission, etc. By all known accounts, the program was successful in reducing overall violence and promoted positive behavior throughout the facility. Not anymore, as according to ISCC staff, the incentive program is now limited exclusively to the privileged few inmates who have the ear (and possibly other parts) of prison administrators, Based on reports, the incentives provided to these select few privileged inmates also receive priority over constit...

In news reports during the last week of December, 2022, ISCC officials have advised the media who have been investigating a lack of hot water for showers at the prison that of the 3 boilers that provide hot water to approximately 1,800 of the 2,200 prisoners at the facility, 1 went offline on December 17th, and a second went down on December 24th. If the reporting of the media is accurate, then the[ir] source data is incorrect. In fact, 1 of the boilers went down in early December, with the second going on and off intermittently before it and the third going completely offline on December 20, despite what IDOC news releases may have contained. In an article posted on this site titled CHRISTMAS SPIRIT LACKING THIS YEAR sent from the prison on December 16, 2022, I wrote the following: "The food has been virtually inedible lately, we've lived with little if any hot water most of the month, the TV channels are almost always out, and administrators refuse even to address the issues...