Previous: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, July ’22
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, copy and paste, or print and send this issue to another.
Friends and families are encouraged to join the Idaho Inmate Family Support Group (IIFSG) on Facebook or contact them at idahoinmate@gmail.com.
Looking to help improve Idaho’s criminal justice system? We ask that you contact Erika Marshall with the Idaho Justice Project. The Idaho Justice Project works to bring the voices of people impacted by the criminal justice system to the legislative table to work on solutions.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Welcome back students and educators!
I hope you’ll take the time to catch up on events from this summer by flipping through the last few issues and exploring all the links.
For those of you who are interested, I’ve taken to soliciting unpaid perspective to provide our monthly readers with views other than my own. So if you’re interested in avenues to earn karma credits, consider introducing this newsy to your class for discussion, contributing an article or sharing a resource with us.
Fact-checks, critiques and opinions are all welcome. Same goes for questions, concerns, feedback, hellos…
Contact:
Patrick Irving #82431
IMSI
PO Box 51
Boise, ID 83707
messaging via JPay
bookofirving82431.com
Let’s First Amend This!
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IDOC UNABLE TO ILLUMINATE ON THE INMATE MANAGEMENT FUND, SWEETENERS FROM CORPORATIONS AND HOW THEY’RE PUT TO USE
Sweeteners – Incentives offered by companies who seek exclusive access to a niche and captive market that will bend to every whim.
IMF – The acronym assigned to “the Inmate Management Fund,” which was first discovered in May within a legally-binding contract to be returning a portion of their inmate communications fees to be used “in the interest of prisoners’ welfare.”
CenturyLink – Contracted by the Department to provide prisoners with the means to communicate with loved ones and others in the free world.
The Contract – C014-017: Concessions Services Agreement for Inmate Communication and Kiosk-Based Technology Access. Take a taste and numb your gums with the section found below.
16.1 ADP FEE
CenturyLink shall pay IDOC a flat fee that utilizes IDOC’s average daily population (ADP) as the basis for the calculation (ADP Fee). The ADP Fee is used by IDOC to fund the Inmate Management Fund (IMF), which promotes the welfare of Inmates through services, programs and physical purchases. The ADP Fee is calculated by multiplying the prior month’s ADP for all Facilities by twenty dollars and no/100 ($20.00). By way of example, IDOC’s ADP for July 1, 2013 through July 31, 2013 was 7385, so the calculation for the July 2013 ADP Fee is: 7385 x 20 = $147,000.
This profit model, though antiquated, will forever remain to be genius: acquire by silent auction imprisoned populations and then charge inflated rates to those who wish for their release.
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****|****|****|****|****|****|*
!!!AME –> / <– RICA???
****|****|****|****|****|****|*
Too many a path
we pave
through
our people’s
broken homes,
lobbied by the likes
of pious corporations
who shape our country’s laws
to expand their market value.
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And here we are now: still reeling from the recent cost increase for JPay messaging, wondering for what purpose the IMF is used.
Twice now, the IDOC has refused to provide its Resident Auditing Committee (RAC), of which I am the founder, with IMF policies, balance sheets, transactions and activities. After refusing the first time for rather suspect reasons — why would the IMF, a fund used to promote prisoner welfare, contain even one prisoner’s personal banking information? — the RAC requested ANY information that might help to illuminate how the fund is used. This public record request was also denied, for the one existing document related to this fund is purportedly protected by Attorney/Client privilege.*
The lack of public records for a fiscal fund that poses a risk as a funnel for corporate influence is a mystery. One can’t help but be intrigued by the fact that the only document with the potential to bring light onto the fund is the subject of matters that require an attorney — as opposed to the subject of matters that require an accountant, who (we hope) would be able to answer the following questions:
1) Do the last three years of IMF activities reflect the periods when programs and activities eased to a standstill as a result of understaffing and operational shut downs?
2) If not, for what purposes were scheduled withdrawals justified by the Department; were they reallocated for the purpose of adapting to new challenges, or were they itemized per usual despite everything being different?
On June 29 this reporter informed the Record Custodian he was still attempting to follow up on the IMF reference made in Contract C014-017: “[This company is] paying IDOC with the understanding that their moneys will be added to the IMF and used to the benefit of facility residents. I would like to see how much money has been placed in this fund over the last three years, by whom, and for what purposes this money has been used. Balance sheets would be helpful, as would any proposals or plans.”
At time of publication (Aug. 23, 2022), there has been no response to this request from the Record Custodian.
*Last month it was reported that a request for IMF records returned with an $871.54 invoice. We have since learned the invoice belonged to an unrelated request. Apologies for any confusion.
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REPORTERS RELY ON PUBLIC RECORD REQUESTS. TO DELAY THEM OBSTRUCTS A STORY. WHY ARE SO MANY DELAYED?
You may not know this but…
This reporter goes through great pains every month to cover the correctional beat from within. As you might expect, I find it difficult to concentrate on anything in my current constantly shifting environment. In addition to the environmental noise, extra effort is also required to access the information needed to present on such matters while upholding a certain standard of accuracy . That information isn’t always as forthcoming as our codes and laws require.
Per IDOC Policy 108.00.01.01 (Public Record Requests) and IDAPA 06.01.01.108, the day-to-day business operations of the Department are meant to be made available upon a request. This includes the Board of Correction meeting minutes, relevant legislation, contracts, budget information, financial records, correspondence, policies and procedures, program information and program audits; and responses to requests made by email, mail or fax must be returned to the inquirer within three working days.
And yet…
7-23-2022
To: Transparency Department
From: Patrick Irving
Three public records requests from April were never filled: 1) Keefe sales volume reports for the weeks of 1-21-22 and 7-15-21; 2) notes, minutes and documents presented at the two commissary review committee meetings prior to 4-19-22, as well as all written requests submitted to the contract manager to be discussed at these meetings; 3) a request for twelve months of revenue payments made from Keefe to IDOC (from 3-21 to 3-22). These requests have been made for public disclosure. Please see them filled without further delay.
These queries were made after Keefe Commissary creatively increased the costs of certain items to a degree that far exceeded the Consumer Price Index. (FAT! May ’20.) Minus this information we’re obstructed from learning whether the increases were proposed in accordance with the contract that rewards IDOC with a healthy share of profits.
Information pertaining to daily operations is also experiencing unusual delays: After being alerted by multiple prison employees in June that at least two of our prisons are operating with staffing levels of less than 50%, a request for confirmation was sent to Central Office. Because the Department has yet to respond, this reporter is forced to validate the stress put on our staff by presenting an anecdote instead of cold, hard data: Ongoing concerns with facility operations, constitutional violations, talk of strike from medical workers — nothing’s really changed since the coverage we got last year, and it’s hard to say what, if anything, will.
Requests for memorandums of understanding, contracts and arrangements for publicitous partnerships beneficial to the Department are also encountering unusual responses — in that several are said to simply not exist.
7-23-2022
To: Transparency Manager
I’m looking to understand to what extent several organizations have involved themselves with IDOC; whether they’re being paid, operating with some criteria or simply being allowed in our facilities to do whatever with whomever they want. Please help me to understand what’s going on here: how are these organizations proposing their services, coming to agreement and undergoing evaluations?
Without the ability to critically examine information related to government operations, the citizenry is unable to ascertain the extent of ongoing issues, the causes and effects, the urgent need for more solutions…
Sources: Idaho Code Section 74-103. IDOC Policy 108 00 001.
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NO RECORD OF CHARITIES, HISTORY OF DONATIONS: WHO’S SECRETLY BENEFITTING FROM CORRECTIONAL CONFISCATIONS?
For decades, Idaho’s prison population has been offered the option to donate their personal property to charity. From electronics and clothing to art products and food, all purchased in prison at inflated cost, mountains of gear, following confiscation, have allegedly been donated to unspecified charities. The total value of these items, after years of accumulation, can safely be estimated to reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Yet no record of this charity has ever been kept, making it impossible to distinguish the recipients of prisoner donations, the criteria by which they’re chosen and the rate at which they benefit.
It’s a matter first confirmed by way of a public record request: when it was found that transactional proof could not be produced to show that resident donations reach a charitable cause.
With the DOC unable to offer names of its charities, the criteria by which they’re chosen and at least one receipt showing a charitable transaction, this reporter lodged a grievance as a resident donor, attempting to compel the Department into responsible record keeping. Several months later, all appeals exhausted, the DOC’s refusal to keep any records was final. To collect even a signature from those benefitting would amount, in their words, to a monumental task.
IDOC clients are confident that they know better. By collectively combining their business experience, they find it simple to surmise that either someone is being lazy or that “charitable recipients” aren’t charities at all. With the weight of the latter a heavy concern, they have called for the attention of the Department of Justice, investigative journalists and Idaho policy groups. Seeking to inspire either audit or injunction, they’d also like to take part in the choosing of future recipients.
Click here to view the public record request, subsequent grievance and other related items.
[This article originally appeared in FAT! March ’22.]
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FORMER IDAHO REPRESENTATIVE PARDONED WHILE IN OFFICE NOW SEEKING TO AVOID BEING SENTENCED FOR RAPE
Fifty-six days prior to committing what a jury would later deem to be the rape of a nineteen-year-old legislative assistant, former Idaho Representative Aaron von Ehlinger received a pardon from the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole for a litany of crimes spanning back to his youth.
During an interview on Idaho Matters, a Boise State Public Radio show hosted by Gemma Gaudette, reporter George Prentice described how, between 1996 and 2013, von Ehlinger was charged with as many as fifteen offenses on eight separate occasions, including drug possession, drunk and reckless driving, distributing alcohol to minors and carrying a concealed weapon while drinking.
Prentice discovered while pouring through records that, in December 2019, at the time von Ehlinger petitioned the Commission to be pardoned for his past, he was preparing to be appointed to an open seat in the Idaho House of Representatives.
Just days after being sworn into his seat in January 2021, von Ehlinger received a pardon for all offenses committed prior. Fifty-six days after receiving this pardon, following an outing with a young legislative assistant, he committed an act that would result in a felony rape conviction.
Currently incarcerated and awaiting his sentence, von Ehlinger is now petitioning to delay his sentencing hearing while he argues to either be retried or immediately acquitted.
Judge Mike Reardon has agreed to hear him out; in what many may consider an unusual proceeding, von Ehlinger will appear before Reardon on August 25 to argue the reasons he should not be sentenced.
Source: George Prentice, Idaho Matters 7.28.22, Boise State Public Radio.
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APPROVED VENDORS FOR BOOKS HAVE CHANGED
The Department has recently revised its list of approved book vendors.
ThriftBooks is back on the list!
The new list follows.
Books, magazines, newspapers and other publications such as monthly or daily calendars, journals etc. that are mailed directly from the publisher are still allowed.
Residents requiring textbooks for course work can contact their facility’s Education Department for assistance.
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COVID NEWS
Since the start of COVID-19, the IDOC has administered over 73,185 tests to those of its clients it’s keeping in-state. More than 6,780 of those tests have returned some form of positive.
Due to a climb in COVID levels, visitation has been disrupted at several facilities. Please view the Department’s website for updates on:
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- East Boise Community Reentry Center
- Idaho Maximum Security Institution
- Idaho State Correctional Center
- Idaho State Correctional Institution
- South Boise Women’s Correctional Center
- South Idaho Correctional Institution
- Treasure Valley Community Reentry Center
- Nampa Community Reentry Center
- Twin Falls Community Reentry Center
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Those who have received their initial vaccination are encouraged by the Department to follow up with booster shots.
Residents experiencing issues related to COVID are invited to forward exhausted grievances to:
ACLU Idaho
PO Box 1897
Boise, ID 83701
View IDOC’s COVID report here.
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ICIO THERAPY DOG HELPS RESIDENT WITH DEMENTIA
by ICIO Warden Temera Carlin
Recently, Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino had an incident where a long-time resident was digressing due to dementia and was non-compliant for staff. This resident had spent many years with the facility dog, Lady, before starting to lose his memory. During the incident it was determined that the resident needed to be transported to the hospital, but he refused to get in the wheelchair. Staff on site asked for lady to be brought to the housing unit. Upon seeing Lady, the resident immediately became compliant, got in the wheelchair and was escorted to the ambulance by medical staff and Lady. Her presence that day made all the difference for the resident in need, the residents on the unit, and the staff that were working that day.
Unfortunately, the resident was unable to return to ICIO due to the seriousness of his medical condition. The transport team, Ofc. Bandolino and Lt. Heun, did an amazing job showing care and concern for the resident. A special shout-out to ISCI, who put together a transport team on short notice to meet us halfway.
[This story first appeared on the IDOC website, from where it was pulled as an official public record.]
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RENICK ON THE RADIO
With five years of episodes available for streaming, Mark Renick hosts Victory Over Sin on Boise’s KBXL 94.1FM, Saturdays at 12:30 pm. The program, funded by an advocacy arm of St. Vincent de Paul, shares what it’s like to live incarcerated in Idaho and come out of incarceration to live life on parole.
Last month, former IDOC Reentry Manager Tim Leigh appeared on Renick’s show to announce that he is now working as the Reentry Curriculum Development Manager for St. Vincent de Paul. With a focus on expanding existing reentry services, Leigh will also explore more ways to help returning citizens get credited for the programs and training they started while incarcerated.
Laurie Erickson, who is formerly incarcerated and living in Idaho, was arrested after receiving a request to complete her voter registration and later following through with what she felt was her civic duty. National Memo columnist Chandra Bozelko, who spent six years incarcerated on the other side of the country, was legally allowed to vote on probation. Last month Renick welcomed the two to discuss the circumstances leading to Laurie’s arrest and the consequences that followed her four months time in jail.
Visit svdpid.org for reentry resources and programs available in Southern Idaho.
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RESIDENT AUDITING 101
Following up on our quest to discover IDOC’s involvement with “The Preseason” Hustle 2.0 Program, an IMSI case manager informed us the program is being offered by an unspecified third party and moving slower than expected with no start in sight. No records of this program have been found through Central Office.
A request for the number of prisoner suicides over the last three years found that, of ten victims, eight were male and two were female.
— Of those male: five had medium-custody classifications, three were classified at close custody; six were residing in beds designated for mental or behavioral health, one was residing in short-term restrictive housing, the other in general population; five of the eight were in a single cell, which, according to the Department, may qualify as isolation.
— Of those female: one was completing a rider, the other was classified at medium custody. According to the Department, at the time of death both were residing in beds designated for mental health, but neither appears to have been in isolation. Though the cells they were in had multiple bunks, it has yet to be specified whether the other bunks were filled.
A separate request, responded to July 13, informed us that out of 9,086 residents in IDOC custody, 134 are currently serving Life Without Parole.
Last month it was reported that a request for information pertaining to the Inmate Management Fund (IMF) was returned with an invoice for $871.54. This was reported in error; the invoice belonged to a request for information related to IDOC’s involvement with AccompishEd Ventures. The IMF, it appears, has thus far evaded any form of public record.
Residents who wish to view the Centurion Health medical contract can now do so with a JPay tablet by clicking on the Handbook icon and scrolling to the bottom.
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES FOR INCARCERATED PERSONS
Those returning from prison to the greater Treasure Valley will find in the offices of St. Vincent de Paul the most comprehensive day-one service Southwestern Idaho currently has to offer.
Focused on informing the freshly released of available resources and services, this organization assists returning citizens in obtaining bus passes, clothing vouchers, food assistance, telephones and more.
Those being released without a ride can ask their case manager to email this day-one service for a pickup. A volunteer will arrive at the time of release and help meet immediate needs with a limited shuttle service.
District 3
Monday – Friday, 10am – 2pm
Canyon County Probation and Parole Offices
3110 Cleveland Blvd., Bldg. D
Caldwell, ID 83605
District 4
Monday – Friday, 9am – 12pm
3217 Overland Blvd.
Boise, ID 83705
For more information visit svdpid.org.
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INMATE SERVICES AT WORK
7-9-22
To: Education
From: Patrick Irving
I’ve managed to arrange a sizeable GED study group from my [cohort]. All have agreed to start with math and understand that group time will be scheduled during dayroom. Moving forward, I’d like to approach our facility admin with the idea of allowing [this group] to study in our unit’s multi-purpose room. Please be advised that I will be running this idea through our case manager, unit sergeant and assistant warden this week.
If you can offer any recommendations of materials that can be used to successfully lead this group, I would certainly appreciate it; this is fairly new for me.
Thanks.
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7-12-22
From: Educator Roberston
To: Patrick Irving
I have notified Deputy Warden Wessels that I approve of this effort and I am scheduling time for you and the group to take a TABE. I am creating a class section for your group and if there is improvement in your TABE test scores after you complete the workbook, I will schedule Math GED tests for anyone willing to take it.
When you come to take your TABE, I will give you some supplies and a workbook. The way the book is designed is to work on a fundamental first (rounding, estimating, adding, subtracting, multiplying). Usually only one more skill is added with each new day. I will offer you some time to learn some basic teaching skills. I would like this to be a success for you and the men you are helping. Since I cannot be everywhere at once or even bring all the people I would like to Education, this is a tremendous service to your peers and a great help to me. If it works it can be modeled for similar programs in every unit. I look forward to your success.
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SUGGESTION BOX
I suggest those of our staff who are looking to earn their worth put a bug in the ear of our Idaho lawmakers before the budget for next year begins to hit their desks. Your district representatives’ info can be found at this link. Republican or Democrat, they’ll benefit from your feedback.
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Thanks for coming to visit, we’ll see you again next month.
Shout of from Twenty-Eight to Jana: nothin’ but love and respect, love and respect…