Previous: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, July ’21 (Si Kahn Tribute Issue)
WELCOME to the August issue of First Amend This!
This publication provides an insider look at issues affecting the Idaho Department of Correction community. If you wish to assist this effort, share the link, cut and paste, or print and send a copy to another.
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GET INVOLVED
IDOC will be holding monthly Townhall With Leadership meetings all through 2021. Submit your questions to brightideas@idoc.idaho.gov using the subject line “Q’s for leadership,” and be sure to attend to keep the conversation going.
Offender friends and families interested in networking concerns are encouraged to join the Idaho Inmate Family Support Group (IIFSG) on Facebook or contact them at idahoinmate@gmail.com.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Our compliments to the staff who’ve decided to stick around. Those who perform their daily duties without passing down their stress don’t go unnoticed. We appreciate it much.
This month we touch on the announcement that our facilities are understaffed and offer a few factors that were overlooked by local news. We also report on an incident used by the Department as a reason to continue ignoring Restricted Housing Unit (RHU) policies; and–when a reasonable query into resident donations meets an odd resistance, a mystery unfolds. (Likely into a series that starts with this issue. I’m still trying to process–we’ll see how it goes.) Among some other tidbits, the summary of a grievance that takes issue with staff’s discretion to censor incoming case law and outgoing descriptions of incidents and issues residents have been involved in.
Your audience is appreciated.
Let’s First Amend This!
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FACILITIES UNDERSTAFFED: EPIPHANIES NEED NOT APPLY
One day after July’s Board of Correction meeting, where it was announced by Human Resources Manager Mike Evans that our correctional facilities are severely lacking staff, the Idaho Maximum Security Institution foreshadowed the future on lockdown.
Or perhaps we should say it operated in consistency with the lockdowns we’ve dealt with for much of the past; as we expect it every Saturday, scheduled in advance–lockdowns resulting from facility understaffing have been affecting my unit for I don’t know how long. Acknowledged as an issue before COVID became a problem, in Grievance IM 200000280, understaffing was used as the reason for withholding out-of-cell time mandated by policy since 2018 (per policies 319 and 319.02.01.003).
Employee burnout compounded by quality-of-life factors were offered as a few reasons our facilities are missing one-fourth of their workforce. But left unmentioned was the disconnect between our staff and management. We often hear from personnel that their experience is not valued, and that much of the danger that stresses their job comes from decisions made behind desks. There is also a sentiment shared among our new recruits: Given the impression our facilities are a place to make a difference, they find themselves uncomfortable enforcing dysfunctional policies at the risk of their own safety and general well-being.
Our case managers, too, are among the extremely stressed. Unable to offer everyone restorative opportunities, they waste their education and training selling bureaucratic “waste plans”.
We feel that in addition to fiscal incentives, our personnel need a workplace more receptive to their professional concerns and suggestions. One that encourages them, when seeking solutions, to problem solve creatively and implement responsibly. In essence, a system that runs diametrically opposite to that which we use for our insentient residents…
EXHIBIT A
To Deputy Warden Wessels:
Because this prison is unable to offer therapeutic/educational opportunities to everyone, I’ve spent several months organizing materials that could benefit others…Some have come from IDOC’s community partners and other outside interests like the Idaho Inmate Family Support Group… But the library has informed me not all donations reach their shelves. Surely they could replace 1 of the 6 copies they have of The Hunger Games [with a book] on addiction and boundaries, etc. These are books my network is already promoting. Can you help us make sure, from now on, they find a shelf in the library?
From Deputy Warden Wessels: You grieved this issue.
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To Deputy Warden Wessels:
Re: Request to create space for therapeutic materials donated from the community. Of the two issues grieved previously, one was your banning me from self-help materials; the other was Robertson not answering where book donations go. Neither grievance asked you to find it in your heart to create a little space for the materials coming in from the book drive I’ve been holding for the last six months in our IDOC newsletter…
From Deputy Warden Wessels: It is a space issue.
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To Deputy Warden Wessels:
If you truly believe our massive desert constructions only have enough space for warehousing thousands of humans, then you’ll never have room for the growth of your residents and staff–just plenty for reasons why people won’t work here.
–Resident Alien Irving
Ref: “Idaho Department of Correction Faces Critical Staff Shortage,” Rachel Cohen. “Idaho Prisons Scrambling for Staff as Exhausted Correctional Officers Resign,” Katie Terhune.
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WHERE HAVE ALL OUR DONATIONS BEEN GOING?
It’s not uncommon for residents to donate their property. At least, no more so than it is to have their property confiscated for taking too much space or being flagged as “altered.”
Whether it’s a clip that’s come loose from a low-quality lamp ($15), a shoelace used to keep a speaker attached to old headphones ($32), or a chip on the face of an unfortunate TV ($268), many are forced to relinquish the property they’ve purchased with funds from their family or penny-paid labor. And though they’re not always offered a choice when it comes to disposing the taken property, there are usually three options from which they can choose: They can either mail it out; donate it to charity; or sign off for staff to place it in the trash.
While sending it out seems like a reasonable option, this reporter once paid $15 to send a $12 book, and our most expensive property can be procured from pawn shops for about the same price we pay for packing and postage. Which means it’s often more appealing to donate our loss and receive the satisfaction of knowing it’s going to charity.
Books are especially easy to relinquish. “Donate to library,” we’re told to write on the inside, where each manuscript is stamped with its benefactor’s name. Under the impression it will be added to our facility’s library, we’re left with the feeling of building a better community by expanding the bank of knowledge we so desperately need.
It’s the same feeling responsible for our FAT! book drive, which ended in disappointment upon the shocking realization that many of our donations are rebuked by the Master of Libraries. He has them carted from the library, off with our property, either to unknown recipients or to be placed in the trash. He says it’s a matter of limited space–that a great deal of people have died in our prisons after decades of donating their time-filling reads, and we simply can’t expect to store the knowledge they’ve amassed just so it can be shared with survivors still breathing.
Which leaves us here at FAT! Headquarters wondering exactly where it all goes: the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of resident property that’s been taken by force and sold off in good favor.
When pressed by this reporter, IMSI’s Robertson said it’s none of our business. “[4]5 days after books are donated or confiscated, they are no longer the concern of the individual to whom they once belonged.”
The response was to a grievance that was lodged to break his silence (IM 210000276), and his position–as an educator–arouses great concern. For even IDOC librarians and educators aren’t immune to corruption or sex crimes, and to combat an interest in civic engagement opposes the very society and its institutes that privilege his career. And were a similar answer to be served to constituents not in prison, any politician, preacher or public official would be without a job by noon and marked for life by two.
Which is why it’s been decided of Robertson he meant to say this: “Beautiful question, sir. I could’ve been ripping you off all this time to fuel my affinity for crack cocaine and Thai boys. I recommend you submit a public records request to audit said donations and see where they go.”
So, in addition to the list of charities and the criteria by which they’re chosen, we also requested at least one receipt showing how our charitable transactions are tracked by the Department.
Our request was returned with “No Records Found.”
An estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of resident property and no system in place to say where it goes.
Years of prisoner contributions, allegedly donated to charity, and not one piece of evidence produced by the state to certify the claim or satisfy a probe. No guarantee they’re not going home with workers. Nothing to say they’re not offed in some alley. Not one receipt, not one listed charity, not one person buying this.
Where does it go?
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THE DIRTY TRICKS THAT DID AWAY WITH OUR AD-SEG REFORM
One would get fired and arrested for alleged sexual misconduct with an inmate. The other, who knows? Nobody wants to say. But prior to their departure from Idaho Maximum Security Institution, two correctional officers quite possibly manufactured an incident that would prevent an increase in Ad-Seg staff’s duties.
The incident was reported as taking place in early 2020, when the two were tasked with testing a table enclosure designed to bring IMSI into compliance with Restricted Housing Unit policies. Since 2018, policies 319 and 319.02.01.003 have required RHU residents to spend at least three hours out of their cells daily. Also referred to as indoor rec modules, the table enclosures were to accommodate half of that time, with the other half to be spent in outdoor modules, already offered for one hour daily.
When the two assigned officers were ordered to test the indoor modules–four caged compartments conjoined around one table, built with an opening on the tabletop for hands to play out cards–they were said to have sought a test group that was destined to fail. According to a source who witnessed the event, they picked four people from adversarial walks (a walk is a small assigned social group of inmates): two from Hard walks and two from Soft walks, though never allowed at any other time to mingle, were picked as participants to provide a demonstration of the enclosures.
But all four of those chosen declined to play a part. Suspicious of the way they were pitted against opponents, they felt as though a plan was in place to set them up.
Of the second group approached to test the table enclosures, all four had allegedly already been reprimanded for throwing bodily fluids on each other and trying to flood each other out with a plumbing hack from their own cells. Said to be four of the most psychologically disturbed on the unit, “It was obvious to everyone what was about to happen.” Given notice in advance of who would be sharing the table, all four were said to have arrived with containers of bodily fluids, and immediately engaged in their preferred method of warfare.
The incident was logged, the experiment concluded, and further construction of the indoor modules was halted. Without an adequate representation of residents used to test the modules, they were branded “too dangerous,” and used not once thereafter.
“It’s frustrating,” says our source. “They know who gets along and they know who throws piss on each other. They keep it all logged right there on their computers. They just don’t want to spend the time it takes to put us in cuffs, walk us out to the dayroom and lock us in cages.”
It’s a hypothesis hard to dispute. For one thing, such info does exist in IDOC computers. It’s seen referenced often in reports from Investigations. For another, in Grievance IM 200000280, mentioned earlier in this issue, understaffing was used as the reason to ignore IDOC policies. Which means it could be tempting for staff who are already stressed to manufacture an incident that would eliminate more duties. And finally, the outdoor modules, used almost daily, are still not being used to the extent required by policy. This despite the fact that no extra staff would be needed and the extra half hour per group poses no immediate risk.
When asked last year why the extra half hour outside has yet to be implemented, IMSI’s Warden Tyrell Davis wrote this: “[It] will become effective after physical plant modifications are completed and staffing levels are addressed.”
As for all questions regarding the crude testing of the indoor modules, it’s the rule of Corrections not to revisit a method once you have achieved the results that will lighten your workload.
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IDOC PROPOSES NEW PRISON AND IMPROVEMENTS TO OLD INFRASTRUCTURE
The Board of Correction voted in July to move forward with their proposal for a new women’s prison and an addition to the Idaho State Correctional Institution.
The proposal would add an additional 848 beds for women and roughly 200 beds for men.
First presented in February to the Board of Correction, the initial projected cost of approximately $130M has since been adjusted to roughly $170M, to include a 35% inflation rate of construction costs over the last five months.
It’s unclear how many months it will take to present the proposal to the governor’s office, Division of Financial Management, Idaho Legislature and other stake holders. It’s also unclear how many more tens of millions of dollars the proposal will be have to be adjusted for inflation by the time they’re done presenting.
EXPECT PRISON VENDORS TO REPORT RECORD PROFITS
Prison vendors can expect to see record profits well into 2022.
As stimulus funds continue to funnel in to our country’s incarcerated, prison providers like Keefe find themselves unable to keep items in stock. From $0.32 squeeze cheeses to TV’s that cost upwards of $300, inmates are reporting months-long outages of multiple items. The shortages, due to an increase in demand, include items like hygiene, underwear, T-shirts and shoes.
With the “expected back in stock date” of many staples constantly changing, even substitutes are being purchased in a frenzy. Customers, less sensitive now to overpriced items, have found themselves ordering novelty goods, plus clothing comforts and appliances like hotpants and sweatpots 😉
Commissary services aren’t the only ones benefitting. Media services, phone and messaging providers, pen pal sites and other inmate services are expected to see spikes in revenue as well.
Those looking to gamble on trends may wish to place money on the notion that prison vendors will soon be seen lobbying for stimulus payments to the incarcerated on a regular basis.
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COVID NEWS
While approximately 38,700 tests have been administered to IDOC residents in three states, those housed in Arizona have not been tested since they were transferred from GEO’s Eagle Pass Correctional Facility with a sizeable number of infected among them. Of those tested in other facilities, more than 4,450 have identified positive. A total of six deaths have been reported as COVID-related.
In early July the Department reported a staff vaccination rate of 45%, compared 73% among residents. And though the majority of staff are still wearing face coverings, they’re not being enforced to the extent they were before.
Fully vaccinated residents and staff with no known or suspected exposure to COVID are now considered excused from mass testing.
In late June a doctor accompanying the Idaho National Guard said vaccinations would be offered in five weeks to those who first refused them. Those at IMSI have not seen this happen. And with the spread of new variants and pending approval for Pfizer, a wave of residents have reported that they want them.
IDOC has initiated a formal demobilization plan to assess the risk of returning to normalized operations.
Visiting trials have begun in some facilities. Masks are required and visitation times are very limited.
Those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are reporting scores 7-9 points higher on their GED exams and a dramatic increase in demand for their seed.
ACLU Idaho and the law firm Shearman & Sterling are in it for the long-haul. They will remain in close contact with IDOC while monitoring all issues related to COVID. Those with concerns are invited to forward their grievances to:
ACLU Idaho
PO Box 1987
Boise, ID 83701
View IDOC’s COVID numbers here.
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EXHAUSTED GRIEVANCE IN SUMMARY
Category: Policy or SOP
Date: 6/07/2021
Location: IMSI
Grievance Number: IM 210000239
Responders: Southwick, Susan Wessels, Tyrell Davis
This grievance addresses mail policy 402.02.01.001, section 3, bullet 9 — which prohibits residents from mailing case information involving codefendants and classes, and is worded in a way that allows legal resources and references to be censored also.
This grievance follows Grievance IM 210000152, which was lodged when a communication was censored for describing an incident the sender was involved in while relaying a request to family to inform and retain counsel. That grievance is available by request.
SLANGIN’ KUDOS
Deputy Warden of Virtual Prisons Stephen Grills caught the attention of Idaho inmate families with loved ones in Arizona. They say they appreciate him ensuring compliance with the CoreCivic contract.
IMSI Grievance Coordinator T. Young has been making sure this reporter’s public records requests are being delivered to the records custodian. She doesn’t have to do it (it goes beyond her job description). By saving us both some grievances, she’s earned a sack of kudos.
IMSI’s entire B Unit staff, forever working overtime and interfacing with myriad stressors, remain professional and consistent with us animals in the back. For this reason we slang them some acknowledgement.
IMSI Property Officer Rodriguez has proven consistent and reliable since taking Property duties over. Either he’s got an amazing memory, or he’s actually taking some time to write our needs down. Whatever the case may be, thanks for getting it done.
Good job, everybody. Let’s hope it rubs off!
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RENICK ON THE RADIO
With over 100 episodes available for streaming, Mark Renick hosts Victory Over Sin on KBXL 94.1FM, Saturdays at 12:30 pm.
This month Ken Rogers and Norma Jager spoke on the event Poetry for Recovery, scheduled during Recovery Month in September. Ken also shared some reading and announced he’ll be holding an online poetry class for those interested until September.
Former Governor of Connecticut and current acting Director of Prison Fellowship John G. Rowland dropped in for some incredibly enlightening conversation. His understanding of politics and experience as a prisoner offered perspective unlikely to be found elsewhere.
Program Manager Rebecca White of the Hope and Recovery Center shared her involvement with Idaho prisons and outreach. Those interested in applying their experience to the field of professional counseling following a conviction will want to listen in.
Michael Richardson, the executive director of Idaho Prison Arts Collective, introduced the program he’s pioneering to bring more arts into Idaho prisons. His mission: to present the many experiences of the corrections community and inform the public through art how its been impacted collectively. Those interested are asked to write to:
IdahoPrisonArts.org
PO Box 1995
Boise, ID 83701
Off-air, Mark works with a reentry effort under an advocacy arm of St. Vincent de Paul. Learn more @ svdpid.org and imsihopecommunityphaseii.com.
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INMATE SERVICES AT WORK
7-31-21
Dear Sir,
Thank you for responding to my letter. I would indeed be interested in questionnaires and info pertaining to recovery. Not only is there an incredible lack of literature here at my facility, but classes are only offered to those with dates for parole, and we’ve no anonymous meetings to participate in either. Add to that the fact that both the deputy warden and warden have upheld a ban on my access to self-help materials for 90 days, and even a pamphlet on abstinence right now would be appreciated.
While I value your idea of holding groups by Zoom, our case managers have neither the pull nor the ability to make something so sensible happen. That would likely require submitting a proposal to IDOC admin. And though I’d never dissuade you from presenting to just them, I would certainly stress to you the following point: If you truly have an interest in reaching our incarcerated, you may wish utilize your Idaho representatives. They’re well aware we’re in need of solutions, and have proven quite helpful at times.
I’m actually compiling a list of the legislators my network’s found receptive. I’d be happy to share it and coordinate future efforts.
Once again, I appreciate your thoughtful response. I hope we’re able to keep the conversation going.
Respectfully,
Patrick Irving 82431
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SUGGESTION BOX
We suggest our prison admin read this newsletter and check this box from time to time.
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THIS ISSUE WAS PRODUCED IN LOVING MEMORY OF “Happy” CHARISSE SHUMATE
A great big congratulations to the California Coalition for Women Prisoners on their 25th anniversary of publishing The Fire Inside!
We salute you, www.womenprisoners.org.