Previous: First Amend This! An IDOC Newsletter, June ’24
Welcome to the July edition 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.
Loved ones are encouraged to join the Idaho Inmate Family Support Group (IIFSG) on Facebook or contact the group’s admins at idahoinmate@gmail.com.
Looking to help improve Idaho’s criminal justice system? We ask that you contact Erica 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
In this issue:
State and prison officials prepare for a cockfight in federal court; Idaho’s death row population increases by one; Thomas Creech interviews with local and national news outlets; attorney for IMSI resident claims IDOC retaliated in response to press attention; how Hawaii corrections handled Keefe commissary price increases at a contract facility shared with Idaho; and a new nonprofit supports local journalists’ right to analyze public records.
Let’s First Amend This!
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FEDERAL JUDGE TO DECIDE IF IDAHO HAS A VAGINA PROBLEM
The ACLU on June 28 filed a federal lawsuit in Idaho District Court against state and prison officials and Centurion Health, the health care provider for Idaho prisons, on behalf of three incarcerated transgender women over a new state law that prevents public entities from facilitating gender-affirming care.
House Bill 668, passed earlier this year by Idaho lawmakers, prohibits public funds and state property from being used to provide gender-affirming care to anyone–including government employees on state health insurance–diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
According to the Idaho Statesman, government employees who violate the law could be charged with misusing public funds and face up to a $10,000 fine and 14 years in prison.
The three plaintiffs in the lawsuit are listed anonymously as Jane Roe, Jane Doe and Jane Poe.
Idaho Capital Sun reporter Mia Maldonado writes that the ACLU intended for them to represent “all people in Idaho correctional facilities who are or will be diagnosed with gender dysphoria who would normally receive hormone therapy without House Bill 668 taking effect.” But Judge David Nye denied the ACLU’s request to incorporate all yet-to-be-identified individuals who stand to be impacted by the bill as plaintiffs in the case.
Court filings claim that the bill violates the plaintiffs constitutional right to remain free from cruel and unusual punishment because they rely on Idaho prisons to provide them with health care services
In 2017, former IDOC resident Adree Edmo similarly sued the department and its medial provider, then Corizon Health, for refusing to treat her gender dysphoria with a physician-recommended gender-confirmation surgery.
The state and Corizon together racked up more than $3,000,000 in legal fees and expenses fighting a losing battle against a roughly $75,000 surgery that was covered by insurance.
Edmo was eventually awarded the surgery and transferred to a women’s prison, from where she was later released.
According to the national ACLU, the new Idaho bill is just one of 527 anti-trans bills considered by state legislators in 2024.
Sources: Andru Zodrow, “ACLU of Idaho Challenges Gender Affirming Healthcare Restrictions,” KHQ.com. Mia Maldonado, “Idaho Officials Sued by Inmates Over Law Blocking Public Funds for Gender Care,” Idaho Capital Sun. Alex Brizee, Ian Max Stevenson, “3 Idaho Transgender Prisoners Sue Over Medical Care. They Can Get Treatment for Now,” Idaho Statesman. Mia Maldonadao, “ACLU of Idaho Asks Federal Judge to Halt Law Banning Gender Care for Those in Prison,” Idaho Capital Sun . Patrick Irving, “Former IDOC Healthcare Provider Changes Its Name and Files For Bankruptcy,” First Amend This!, June ’23. Betsy Russell, “US Supreme Court Rejects Idaho’s Appeal in Transgender Inmate Surgery Case,” Idaho Press.
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WEEK TWO, DAY SEVEN BREAKFAST (MAINLINE)
[Fruit and whole grain bread is substituted at facilities flagged for excessively brewing alcohol.]
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1/2 cup — Scrambled Eggs
1 cup — Oatmeal
1 cup — Hash Browns
8 oz — Milk 1%
10 gm — Margarine
2 pkt — Sugar
8 oz — Vitamin Beverage
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Source: IDOC Food Service Menu 7.1
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IDAHO’S DEATH ROW POPULATION INCREASES BY ONE
Doomsday author and self-proclaimed messiah Chad Daybell was sentenced last month to death after being found guilty of killing his first wife and two stepchildren from his second wife.
Boise’s KTVB news spoke to members of the jury about how they processed what was described throughout the trial as extremely graphic evidence, and how they together concluded that Daybell deserved to be sentenced death.
“I got very angry,” Juror #11 told Boise’s KTVB News. “Especially the more you heard, the evidence of what emails he sent, what text he sent, what he said about children that weren’t even his . . . that he needed to raise the pain and turn up the dark. And it was like, this is unbelievable that this person is that much of a narcissist to think he was the Holy Ghost–that he was the right hand of God.”
“One of the jurors said she was disappointed Daybell did not plea for his life during the sentencing phase,” KTVB reported. “Another said the defense was given every opportunity to try and convince jurors to give him life in prison instead.”
Daybell has since been transferred into IDOC custody and placed on death row at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
KTVB says the state will reimburse jury members who require counseling services.
Source: KTVB staff, “The Whole Thing Was Beyond Horrific’: Chad Daybell Jurors Reflect on Triple Murder Trial,” KTVB.com.
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WEEK TWO, DAY SEVEN LUNCH (MAINLINE)
[Fruit and whole grain bread is substituted at facilities flagged for excessively brewing alcohol.]
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1 ea — Fresh Fruit/ Banana
1 1/2 oz — Peanut Butter
1/2 oz — Jelly
2 oz — Wholegrain Bread
1 pc — Weekend Oat Bar
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Source: IDOC Food Service Menu 7.1
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THOMAS CREECH INTERVIEWS WITH THE NEW YORK TIMES AND BOISE’S KTVB NEWS
As Idaho’s longest-standing death row resident, a serial killer by FBI standards and the state’s only condemned prisoner to survive an execution attempt, Thomas Creech possesses insight that few people ever will.
The 73-year-old last month spoke to Boise’s KTVB News and The New York Times about the events leading up February’s failed lethal injection attempt and how his life has changed during his five decades in prison.
KTVB also spoke to family members of Creech’s victims, who candidly shared how they feel knowing he’s still alive.
Watch: Morgan Romero, “Idaho Death Row Inmate Thomas Creech Reflects On Failed Execution, Family of Victim Speaks Out for First Time,” KTVB.com.
Read: Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, “A Death Row Prisoner Tells of Living Through a Botched Execution,” New York Times.
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WEEK TWO, DAY SEVEN DINNER (MAINLINE)
[Fruit and whole grain bread is substituted at facilities flagged for excessively brewing alcohol.]
______________________________
1.25 cup — Ham and Scalloped Potatoes
1 cup — Garden Salad #3
1 oz — French Dressing
1/2 cup — Fruit Crisp
2 oz — Whole Bread
10 gm — Margarine
8 oz — Vitamin Beverage
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Source: IDOC Food Service Menu 7.1
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HOW IDAHO RANKS AMONG STATES THAT KILL AS PUNISHMENT
Number of states where the death penalty is legal: 27
Number of people now on Idaho’s death row: 9
Number of execution methods legal in Idaho: 2
Average number of years a person waits on Idaho’s death row to be executed: 27
Number of people executed by Idaho since 1976: 3
Number of states who have executed fewer people than Idaho since 1976: 3
State with most per capita executions since 1976: Oklahoma, 124
Number of people executed by Texas since 1976: 580
Factor by which California’s population surpasses Idaho’s: 21
Factor by which California’s death row population surpasses Idaho’s: 80
Sources: Dakin Andone, “What to Know About Idaho’s Death Penalty After Chad Daybell Was Sentenced to Death,” CNN. Nate Eaton, “A Closer Look at Why It Takes So Long To Execute Someone in Idaho,” EastIdahoNews.com.
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ATTORNEY CLAIMS IDOC RETALIATED AGAINST HER CLIENT, SEEKS TO DISMISS CRIMINAL CHARGES FILED FOLLOWING PRESS ATTENTION
Seven weeks after the Idaho Statesman covered the story of how the IDOC and its medical provider, Centurion Health, refused to schedule IMSI resident Bobby Templin the surgery required to mend his broken hand, the Ada County Sheriffs Office stepped in with criminal charges.
Unfortunately for Templin, it was he who was criminally charged.
Templin’s trouble stems from a chaotic January 2023 incident that involved more than a dozen Idaho State Correctional Center residents and was seemingly forgotten about until the Statesman story ran.
Attorney Mike French, who represents Templin, has since filed a motion to dismiss all charges, claiming that the IDOC pressed its law enforcement partners to single him out in an act of retaliation.
Click to read Statesman reporter Nicole Blanchard’s story “Idaho Prisoner Says IDOC Retaliated After He Dare Speak Out About Broken Hand.”
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HAWAII CORRECTIONS INVESTIGATES KEEFE COMMISSARY PRICE HIKES AT IDAHO CONTRACT FACILITY
Honolulu Civil Beat reporter Kevin Dayton last month covered the story of how Hawaii’s prisoners housed at Saguaro Correctional Center (SCC) in Eloy, Ariz. were recently subjected to Keefe Commissary price increases that reached upwards of 300%.
SCC is a CoreCivic contract facility where Idaho, Hawaii and Montana currently house their prison overflow. Commissary prices at the facility differ by population.
Hawaii Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (HDCR) director Tommy Johnson said in a Hawaii Correctional Oversight Commission hearing that his department, after investigating the price increases, worked with Keefe to lower its rates for the facility’s Hawaiian residents.
“For items where the price increases were 200% or 300%, they found substitutable items that cost less that are now going to be on the menu,” Johnson said. “For those items where they could not find a replacement that cost less, we take them off the list altogether.”
Johnson also said that the number of prisoner complaints dwindled following HDCR’s involvement.
According to Dayton, Hawaii corrections generally caps Keefe’s commissary markups in state facilities at 10% plus delivery and storage fees.
A resident who recently returned from SCC told me under the condition of anonymity that Keefe appears to be marking up the items most frequently purchased by each DOC population. He said that residents of the facility have responded to the company’s tactics by placing orders on one another’s behalf at the cheapest available prices.
Source: Kevin Dayton, “Prices Have Abruptly Skyrocketed at the Arizona Prison that Houses Many Hawaii Inmates,” Civilbeat.org.
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IDAHO FIRST AMENDMENT ALLIANCE SUPPORTS (SOME) JOURNALISTS’ RIGHT TO INSPECT PUBLIC RECORDS
Melissa Davlin, the Idaho Press Club president and lead producer for Idaho Reports, recently launched a nonprofit organization designed to protect local journalists’ right to inspect public records.
The organization is called the Idaho First Amendment Alliance. Idaho Capital Sun reporter Mia Maldonado writes that its aim is “to provide funding for training, workshops, and court fees for Idaho journalists challenging a public agency’s lack of transparency.”
Longtime Gem State reporters say that inconsistent understandings of law, understaffing and memory problems can all factor in to a public agency’s inability to meet public records requirements.
After sharing in last month’s newsletter how the IDOC refused my public records request for information on its proposed opioid abuse medication pilot program, I sent Davlin copies of the requests and refusals, along with a heartfelt thanks for supporting us Idaho journalists in our shared effort to ensure government transparency.
Davlin and the alliance have yet to respond.
Source: Idaho Capital Sun, “Idaho Journalists Launch Nonprofit to Promote Government Transparency,” Mia Maldonado.
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RENICK ON THE RADIO
With over six 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 the Southwest Idaho advocacy arm of https://www.svdpid.org, shares what it’s like to live incarcerated in Idaho and then to come out of incarceration and live on parole.
6.1.24. Mike Perry firmly believes that listening to people in recovery to understand what works best for them is an art form. He shares how his past experiences informed his work as a St. Vincent de Paul recovery coach, and why he has decided to move on from the job.
6.8.24. Kimbra Shaw is the interim director for RO116, an investment group that gathers to fund local gospel spreading strategies. Shaw discusses the how the organization has helped start-up ministries prosper through its local, annual event.
6.22.24. Certified drug and alcohol counselors Jenivee Hardcastle and Dray Markovetz from Idaho’s District 4 Probation and Parole talk addiction recovery and the importance of wraparound services.
Contact Mr. Renick at 208-477-1006 or visit https://www.svdpid.org for more information on reentry resources in Southwestern Idaho.
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RECENTLY ACKNOWLEDGED
CO class 6.24. Mackenzie Caron with Top of Class Award; Naomi Merrit with Tactical Edge Award; Chris Akerman with Top Instructor Award.
The 2024 class of GED graduates of the Robert Janss School at ISCI. Click here for video.
Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino technical records specialist Dove Eller with Employee of the Quarter.
Nampa Community Reentry Center residents for donating $1,400 worth of bikes and Helmets to the Boys and Girls Club.
Source: Idaho Department of Correction on Facebook
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RESIDENT AUDITING 101
The number of suspected drug overdoses in Idaho prisons that were treated with opioid reversal drugs in 2023:
North Idaho Correctional Institution: 1
South Idaho Correctional Institution: 2
Idaho State Correctional Center: 2
Idaho State Correctional Institution: 3
Idaho Maximum Security Institution: 10
Yearly commissions payments from Keefe Commissary Network to the IDOC:
Calendar Year 2021: $ 3,097,218.54
Calendar Year 2022: $ 3,929,731.20
Calendar Year 2023: $ 3,965,638.89
Yearly commission payments from IC Solutions to the IDOC:
Calendar Year 2021: $ 1,534,536.77
Calendar Year 2022: $ 1,537,505.20
Calendar Year 2023: $ 1,435,324.45
Sources: Public records requests submitted by the Resident Auditing Committee to the IDOC .
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RESOURCES FOR INCARCERATED PERSONS
Level is an organization dedicated to providing people incarcerated in U.S. prisons with free printed educational, job training and personal development guides. Send all requests to:
Level
411 W. Monroe
St. Austin, TX 78704
https://learnlevel.org
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INMATE SERVICES AT WORK
[Sent June 21 over JPay to a person investigating the impact of House Bill 668.]
Here’s one more for you: [redacted for privacy]. We’re a little worried about her because she’s a cutter. She quit her job a couple weeks ago to be moved to a unit where she’ll have more support when they withdraw her medications. I interviewed her last year for a story on the need for trauma-informed care in prisons that I never finished. She won’t mind me sharing this with you. She gets out soon, which means that she will be struggling to transition into the community while abruptly adapting to the change in her hormone regimen. She’s not been on the therapy for long, maybe since November. About the same time that she came out as transgender to her family. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Tell her that I referred you with her situation and I’m sure she’ll be happy to chat.
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SUGGESTION BOX
I suggest you not throw Kevin in the hole when his mom flies in to visit.
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Shout out to Julia Piaskowski with Idahoprisonproject.org!