Updates

Wife of Former Boise Police Department Captain Tied to White Supremacists Employed by the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole

In 2019, Ashley Bryngelson, a pre-hearing investigation officer for the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole (ICPP), recommended that Sergio Castillo-Marquez, a Mexican citizen imprisoned for drug trafficking, be denied parole, deportation and reunification with his family in Mexico. Bryngelson’s husband, Matthew Bryngelson, has recently been in the news for his relationship with American Renaissance, according to official documents shared by Castillo-Marquez with this reporter.

As reported by the Idaho Statesman in November, Mathew Bryngelson, who retired as a captain from the Boise Police Department(BPD) in August, appeared under a fake name on the speaker list for the American Renaissance Conference. According to Boise State Public Radio host Samantha Wright, “American Renaissance portrays Whites as superior to Black people and says people of color commit more crimes than white people.” The Southern Poverty Law Center labels the conference as one which attracts Klansmen, neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

It has yet to be identified whether Ashley Bryngelson in any way supported the pseudonymous views Matthew Bryngelson was scheduled to espouse at the conference, or whether she may have attended others like it or promoted his posts on social media.

Three years ago, when former Parole Commissioner Patricia Young denied Idaho Governor Brad Little’s offer to continue serving past her term, she expressed concerns over racial disparities in Idaho’s correctional system.

October 27, 2020

Dear Governor Little,

Thank you for asking me to serve on the Commission of Pardons and Parole to finish a term ending in December 2020. It has been an intense learning experience and convinced me even more of the importance of universal pre-school. As I approach my 75th birthday I do not wish to serve past the end of this term.

I strongly urge you to appoint a qualified person of color. The number of Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans in prison in Idaho exceeds their percentage in the general population.

As you know I served as a magistrate judge for thirty-five years and I came to rely upon and expect excellent training in order to serve the public well. In my opinion, the position of parole commissioner requires training on risk assessments, the programming offered in the prison, how discipline issues are handled, bias, motivational interviewing, community safety, and an understanding of how the whole prison system works. I was stunned to have no orientation or training other than observing hearings when I began.

Independently, I sought information to become a knowledgeable and prepared member. I wanted to explore ways that Idaho’s high recidivism rate (the highest in the country according to the ACLU Smart Justice Report) may be reduced. Could it be by developing objective, not subjective guidelines for denial and revocation? I contacted the University of Idaho College of Law and a student volunteered to work with me to research parole trainings and practices around the country. The most helpful information we found comes from our neighbor state Wyoming. In 2019 the Prison Policy Initiative https://www.prisonpolicy.org graded the parole systems of all 50 states. It gave the highest grade to Wyoming [a B-] and Idaho an F. Grading of the parole systems of all 50 states explains Wyoming’s good policies and the basis of an F for Idaho.

Although I very much enjoy working with the other commissioners and the very competent staff, I do not want to keep working so many hours in a job that I feel is not grappling with ways to better serve the women and men in prison and the people of Idaho. As you know there are too many people in prison at a cost to the state of $25,000/year and thus insufficient funds to fully fund education Idaho is dead last in per pupil funding in the country. With what energies and insights I may have over the next few years I plan to focus on prevention, early childhood initiatives and sufficient funding for universal pre-schools.

Sincerely,

Patricia Young

A lawsuit filed in federal courts in 2021 alleges the ICPP is racially biased in granting parole. The plaintiff, Elias Custodio, a Hispanic male serving time on two manslaughter charges, claims his rights to due process and equal protection have been violated by the ICPP and its pre-hearing investigators. (Case Number 1:21-cv-00351-REP Custodio vs. Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole.)

Last month, the Boise City Council set aside $500,000 to hire the Washington D.C. firm Steptoe and Johnson to investigate whether Mathew Bryngelson’s ideologies played into his police work or tainted the department. The investigation will be led by the esteemed Michael Bromwich, who according to the firm’s website, possesses 40 years of experience as a criminal defense lawyer, federal prosecutor, special prosecutor, independent monitor, and also served as associate counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel for the Iran-Contra investigation.

Unfortunately, Bromwich’s firm was hired only to investigate the BPD, which makes it likely that they will only be looking for evidence of whether racist practices were deployed at the city level to place people in prison–and not by authorities at the state level with the power to release them.

Though Ashley Bryngelson’s current employment status has yet to be confirmed, she appears to have been employed by the ICPP at least into 2021.

“Broken Bones”
— Kaleo

Patrick Irving Sits With Employees of JPay, Showcases How the Company Sh*ts On Its Consumers (Round 1)

[This interview has been edited for clarity and length.]

Patrick: By responding to the following communication, you, the responder(s), hereby acknowledge that as a representative of JPay, Securus, and/or all peripheral/parent companies that this exchange will be published in a series investigating the abusive practices of your employer(s), and that by choosing to respond, you, the responder(s), consent to the release of all communications initiated by Patrick Irving and, furthermore, fully indemnify Mr. Irving, as well as any and all collaborators and publishers working with his consent, of any and all liabilities that result from your ongoing participation in this investigative series.

In all the complaints that I, Patrick Irving, author of the New York Times essay “Prisoners Like Me Are Being Held Hostage to Price Hikes,” have personally filed with your company over its defective VideoGram service–specifically, the way it cuts VideoGrams down to as few as 14 seconds after customers are billed for 30–your customer service department continues to claim that your company is in fact providing the 30 seconds promised, and that I, investigative reporter Patrick Irving, have had the ability to ensure prior to purchase that every video I’ve ever sent is a full 30 seconds long. But even after confirming that I have recorded for 30 seconds, the recording, once paid for, is frequently reduced to half that time, and sometimes even less.

Not long ago your company was fined millions of dollars by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for excessively charging consumers after forcing them to use your service. Yet you insist that it is company practice to not issue refunds even when you have accepted payment for services you cannot provide. Please explain the logic that drives your company to continue defrauding its customers with micro-scams similar to the one it is captured in now.

Sanchez: Hi Patrick. Thank you for contacting Ticket Support. We understand the frustration with your VideoGram messages and I am happy to help. While all VideoGram messages are allowed 30 seconds, they are able to be reviewed prior to sending to the select contact. If you do not like the video or you are unable to record the full 30 seconds, you are able to review the VideoGram before sending. Unfortunately, the system will not allow a refund.

Patrick: To be clear, you do understand that I am complaining about VideoGrams being cut in half after I review them to verify that I have recorded for 30 seconds?

In fact, in at least one of our prior communications, your company acknowledged this as a software issue.

So what purpose does it serve to continue placing blame on customers when your company has already acknowledged that it is at fault? Is there perhaps some policy that requires Securus employees to shit on as many people as humanly possible throughout the course of their work shift?

Faye: The issues you are experiencing with the video recording feature have been reported to our customer service developers and they are working towards a resolution–once the issue has been found. Pease keep checking back for its return to functionality.

Patrick: I see. And to your credit, acknowledging the problem is always the first step. But the next step, Faye, as I suspect you already know, is to be proactive in preventing future harm from being caused to your customers, and then, to begin making amends for all the harm you have caused in the past.

In this particular case, that would mean: 1) ensuring all of your customers are aware of the software issue; 2) not encouraging your customers to spend even more of their money to test if the problem is fixed, and; 3) refunding all those affected by your admittedly defective service.

As this is now the fifth time I have requested a refund for every one of my VideoGrams that has been cut short of 30 seconds–and by now we must presume that number to be reaching over 50–how about you begin with refunding me and save us both a bit of a hassle?

Monroe: Hi Patrick. Thank you for contacting Ticketing Support. We understand how frustrating it can be to have VideoGram issues. Please respond back with the name of the kiosk to escalate the issue.

Patrick: As you’ll note, Monroe, in complaints CCI-IMSI499470, CCI-CCI-IMSI493336 and CCI-IMSI539504, I inform your company that the problem persists on multiple kiosks, and to this the response is always the same: “The issues you are experiencing with the video recording feature have been reported to our software developers and they are working toward a resolution…”

And so I say to you again, your company is charging for services it is unable to provide as advertised and refusing to issue refunds to customers who complain. Please explain the policy that guides you to defraud your customers in such a way.

Sydney: Hi Patrick. Thank you for contacting Ticketing Support. We understand the frustration with your VideoGram messages and I am happy to help. While all VideoGram messages are allowed 30 seconds, you are able to view the VideoGram before sending. Unfortunately, the system will not allow a refund.

(Round 2)

See also:

Irving Now Serving: The Calaboose Kaleidoscope (five links that paint a picture of America’s prison system) 12.20.22

Patrick Irving writes from the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, often cramped behind a desk, on the starboard side of the toilet, not infrequently rubbing shoulders while his cellie is taking the throne. His experimental advocacy model–developed and refined with the help of his father–can be studied along with the scope of his work at bookofirving82431.com.

Working the ones and the twos for this week’s post: Ed Sheeran with “Bibia Be Ye Ye.”

***

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA (Home of America’s first penitentiary. Thanks, Quakers.)

“I am going to help them fry that N****r!” remains a perfectly acceptable sentiment in the courtrooms of Philadelphia, where Court Clerk Terri Maurer Carter and Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Kline are alleged to have heard Judge Albert Sabo promise to do just that during his first week of overseeing the 1982 trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

On October 26, 2022, Common Pleas Court Judge Lucretia Clemons denied Abu-Jamal a new trial. This despite the question of Judge Sabo’s bias, evidence that trial witnesses received promises of money and favorable treatment in pending criminal cases to provide damaging testimony, and claims that the original prosecutor systematically prevented Black jurors from performing their civic duty.

View here: “Court Update For Mumia Abu Jamal, December 16th, 2022” by Noelle Hanrahan, prisonradio.org.

***

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (The Empire State)

Legendary prison journalist John J. Lennon takes you on a tour of conjugal visits in New York. New York is one of the last states to support the practice of family rejuvenation by allowing loved ones to spend time bonding in privileged, private settings.

View here: “Sex, Love and Marriage Behind Bars. What are Conjugal Visits Really Like?” by John J. Lennon, published in Esquire.

***

BOISE, IDAHO (Little Rock of the West)

Idaho’s Governor Brad Little has had the hardest time attempting to execute Gerald Pizzuto, Jr. The fourth and most recent attempt, scheduled to kick off the ten-day countdown to Christmas, appears have been no more than Little’s wishful thinking, as the state’s new extreme secrecy law, passed to protect the identities of lethal injection drug dealers, has yet to convince one solid connection that Idaho can keep from squealing under pressure.

View here: “Christmas-Countdown Execution Won’t Be Saved by Santa” by Patrick Irving, First Amend This!

***

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Beth Schwartzapfel with the Marshall Project spent months interviewing a wide range of incarcerated individuals to provide you with a look at prison economics and the lengths that some must go to procure basic essentials.

View more: “Prison Money Diaries: What People Really Make (and spend) Behind Bars” by Beth Schwarzapfel with The Marshall Project.

***

NEWS FROM SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

Thanks to the legacy left behind by the amazing James Ridgeway, we are now able to highlight hundreds of reporters who have experienced being treated for behavioral problems by inflicting extreme demoralization in America’s tiniest torture chambers–aka “one of the many ways we’re striving to make our school-shooters saner.”

View more: “Seven Days in Solitary: A weekly roundup of news and views on solitary confinement,” published by Solitary Watch.

***

-fin-

13:06 12.20.22

First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Dec. ’22

Previous: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Nov. ’22

Welcome to the December 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.

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 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.

EDITOR’S NOTE

In December 2019, I wrote and published the first edition of the First Amend This! newsletter as way to call attention to issues affecting Idaho prisoners and their loved ones.

Two issues, to be specific: 1) flaws within IDOC’s grievance system enable staff to investigate themselves for misconduct and; 2) the Department wasn’t holding itself or its contractors to the standards established in legally-binding contracts.

You might say that I was suffering from delusions of grandeur (supported by the fact I that I had no prior experience in journalism) as I presumed it would take sixty days, tops, before someone at Central Office put a stop to my monthly missiles by addressing those two concerns.

Unfortunately, as they say of presumptions: “You can’t just run around spewin’ all your ‘umptions at everyone whose job it is to see the job gets done!”

And so it goes–

Let’s First Amend This!

CHRISTMAS-COUNTDOWN EXECUTION WON’T BE SAVED BY SANTA

On November 16, Idaho District Court Judge Jay Gaskill issued a death warrant for Gerald Pizzuto, Jr., 66, who has remained on Death Row for the last 36 years, convicted of the 1985 murders of Berta Herndon and her nephew Delbert Herndon.

With the warrant promptly served to Pizzuto at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, the IDOC scheduled the execution for December 15.

On November 30, unable to procure the chemicals required to put Pizzuto to death, the Department announced that his execution would, for the fourth time, be delayed .

Earlier this year Director Josh Tewalt testified before Idaho’s House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, not as a proponent of the ultimate penalty but as a state employee tasked with ensuring its implementation. “We’ve been unable to secure the necessary chemicals and potential suppliers have expressed concern that the language in our administrative rules is insufficient to protect their identities.”

Following his testimony, the Idaho Legislature passed into law House Bill 658, a widely criticized secrecy bill designed to protect the identity of any person or business who compounds, synthesizes, tests, sells, supplies, manufactures, stores, transports, procures, dispenses, prescribes or gets high from selling the substances used in an execution.

A few months prior to the passing of H.B. 658, the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole voted to commute Pizzuto’s sentence to life without parole–a sentence they likely expected to have been fulfilled by now, as terminal bladder cancer, heart disease and diabetes have been working hard to stamp Pizzuto out au naturel.

Citing the brutality involved in Pizzuto’s crime, Governor Brad Little opposed the Commission’s recommendation; but it wasn’t until after several battles through the courts that Little was able to reverse the Commission’s clemency.

Pizzuto’s legal team has filed a claim through federal courts, seeking a preliminary injunction to further postpone the execution and force the IDOC to unveil the measures it takes to procure and ensure the quality of lethal injection chemicals. They’re concerned that Pizzuto may experience severe levels of pain when the execution drugs mix with with those that treat his other ailments.

Following these concerns, Pizzuto has now thrice requested to be placed in front of a firing squad.

When asked during the committee hearing whether this would be possible, Director Tewalt demurred: “I don’t think you could expect fewer legal challenges to a firing squad. And more importantly, I don’t feel as the director of the Idaho Department of Correction the compulsion to ask my staff to have to do that.”

Lethal injection is currently the only form of execution legal in Idaho, a state that currently counts eight people on Death Row.

The Department neither comments on ongoing litigation nor notifies clients other than those to be executed that a homicide is scheduled to take place on facility grounds.

The Department has neglected to proactively recommend mental health services for residents who are feeling stressed by this execution that, for many, strikes very close to home.

Sources: Kevin Fixler, “Execution of Pizzuto Delayed by Lack of Lethal Drug,” Idaho Statesman. Ruth Brown, “IDOC Says It Doesn’t Have Lethal Injection Chemicals After Court Schedules Death Row Inmate’s Execution,” Idaho Capital Sun. Kevin Fixler, “Unable to Buy Lethal Injection Drugs, Idaho Seeks to Shield Potential Suppliers from Scrutiny” Idaho Statesman. Keith Ridler, “Idaho Governor Signs Law Shielding Sources of Execution Drug,” Associated Press. Clark Corbin, “Idaho House Passes Bill Granting Confidentiality in Executions. Identities of Lethal Injection Drug Suppliers and Manufacturers Would Become Secret Under House Bill 658” Idaho Capital Sun.

IDOC CHRISTMAS DINNER

Roast Pork Loin 5 oz
Corn Casserole 1/2 cup
Mashed Potato 1 Cup
Brown Gravy 1 Cup
Spinach Apple Salad 1 Cup
Dinner Roll 2oz
Margarine 1 pkt
Angel Food Cake/Strawberries 1 slice

NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR PRISON TELECOM PROVIDERS

On September 29, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules that require prison telecom companies to provide communication-disabled customers with Telecommunication Relay Services (TRS) at no additional cost by 2024.

The rules apply to all carceral systems–including youth, immigration and severe-mental health facilities–that use broadband services and count more than 50 people incarcerated in the entire system at one time.

The rules also require service providers to do the following:

      • Lower the ancillary fee caps on all charges for single-call services.
      • Lower the cap on provider charges for processing credit card, debit card and other payments to calling services accounts.
      • Discontinue the confiscation of funds from inactive calling accounts until at least 180 days have passed without account activity, and then refund the balance or dispose of the funds in accordance with applicable state law.
      • Report more information about TRS and disability access.

Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf (HEARD), a DC-based advocate organization, wrote in a letter to supporters that the rules were a victory for hundreds of communication-disabled, incarcerated individuals who, over the course of a decade, have written the FCC to detail their daily struggles. “We offer humble and deep thanks to our currently and formerly incarcerated loved ones–all of whom have lost so much from the injustice and sacrificed and risked so much to force these changes for themselves and future generations.”

Prisoners and loved ones with communication disabilities are encouraged to contact HEARD and ask how to get involved:

HEARD
P.O. Box 1160
Washington, D.C. 20013
202.436.9278
contact@heardadvocates.org

Sources: Notice from HEARD (11.11.22). FCC News, “FCC Acts to Ensure Access to Communications Services for Incarcerated People With Disabilities.”

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE IDOC REGARDING JPAY VIDEO VISITS

We are aware that video visits are not being scheduled to the proper kiosks. We are actively working with JPay for a quick resolution. This is our top priority and we hope this will be resolved by Monday, December 19.

We apologize for the inconvenience and frustration you are experiencing. If you missed a visit and were charged, please call the help desk at 1-800-574-5729 and request a refund.

DIVISION OF PUBLIC WORKS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FROM CONTRACTORS TO BUILD NEW PRISON AND ADDITION

The Division of Public Works is now seeking bids from construction and design firms for the new 848-bed women’s prison and the 280-bed addition to the Idaho State Correctional Institution (ISCI) that Idaho Legislature approved earlier this year.

With a combined budget of $155.8 million, the two projects are predicted to relieve county jails of IDOC overflow and enable the return of state prisoners currently housed in a privately run, CoreCivic prison in Arizona.

Both structures will be erected in the Kuna prison complex south of Boise. The location is expected to help the IDOC reduce costs associated with shuttling females to and from the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center for classification, intake and medical purposes.

The addition to the men’s facility will be used to better meet the medical and ambulatory needs of an aging prisoner population–the inevitable consequence of Idaho’s extreme sentencing structures.

The Division of Public Works is accepting applications through January 18 and expects to finalize a contract by March.

Source: Ian Max Stevenson, “Idaho Plans to Build Two New Locations for Prisoners. Where Will They Be Located?” Idaho Statesman.

SIX SIGNIFICANT STRIDES TAKEN THE LAST TWO YEARS

Over the course of the last two years, the IDOC has worked with the support of the Idaho Legislature to better address the needs of its workforce and clients.

Here are the six most noteworthy moves as viewed from a cell at IMSI:

      1.  A $4.5 million investment into Connection & Intervention Stations provided supportive services for people on supervision, presumably preventing revocation and extending time at liberty.
      2. The Idaho Legislature, the IDOC and the Behavioral Health Council made funding available for pre-prosecution diversion programs (PPD), thereby encouraging Idaho districts to work with community partners in creating alternatives to incarceration. Though public records requests for PPD grant applications and awards continue to come up empty, the funding that was made available implies that Idaho’s higher-ups are at least expressing an interest in the damage being done by our current sentencing system.
      3. Amidst an ongoing staffing crisis, the IDOC implemented pay raises, hiring and retention bonuses, and committed to providing a significant percentage of staff with career development opportunities. Later, in what was openly billed as an employee wellness program, the Department offered grants to behavioral health professionals capable of delivering staff treatment services for corrections fatigue and trauma. Though public records requests reflect an absence of applicant interest, the IDOC is being seen as proactively searching for a solution to their staffing issue.
      4. The new women’s prison is not the perfect solution, but its construction does align with Director Tewalt’s December 31, 2020 assertion that the Department is “currently assessing our practices for incarcerated women so that we can provide help and support that is more targeted to the unique needs of women.” We take it as a positive that these needs have been acknowledged and are being acted upon.
      5. This year, a collaboration between the University of Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College and the Department of Education brought postsecondary for-credit classes to select groups of residents. The Department then announced its intent to expand educational opportunities throughout all facilities. This is a significant move that will likely improve many lives.
      6. By participating in events like Recovery Out Loud, held annually in Eastern Idaho, and the Convicted Conference, premiered this year in Meridian, the IDOC projected a willingness to form stronger ties with the community. For example, at the Convicted Conference, in the interest of developing solutions and networking new resources*, the Department invited incarcerated speakers, parole and probation officers, volunteers, mentors and justice-affected families to speak with a mixture of organizations and agencies. Both events were seen to inspire hope and collaboration, ingredients necessary to the process of moving the community forward.

For more information on the Department’s strategic vision, goals, programs and initiatives please visit idoc.idaho.gov.

*Unfortunately, multiple efforts to make complementary issues of this newsletter available to attendees were dismissed by the event’s organizer without explanation. This was unfortunately seen as a contradiction to the message of the conference: that all should be included. We apologize to anyone who, as a result of our helping AccomplishED Venture’s promote the Convicted Conference, shared in our experience and found themselves excluded.

NOT FOR NOTHIN’, WE TRIED: EDITOR’S NOTE, MAY ’22

The Convicted Conference is coming in June and the following issues could still use attention. Should anyone find an opportunity to introduce these items at the conference, those of us who can’t make it would greatly appreciate it:

      1. IDOC’s current use of administrative segregation is placing unnecessary risk upon Idaho communities. Without more action taken towards ad-seg reform, the Department will continue returning their most problematic prisoners back to their communities without programming or supervision. (FAT! Apr. ’21, May ’21, Aug. ’21, Nov. ’21)
      2. Per policy, pre-interview parole hearing packets are to be delivered four months prior to all scheduled hearings. For some time now, this has not been happening. These packets are portals that lead to one’s future; the information they request can take weeks to put together and the Parole Board tends to notice when the details are left blank. (FAT! Nov. ’21, Feb. ’22)
      3. The betterment materials being donated by prisoners belong on their prison library shelves and not sent by the Department to unknown organizations. Unknown, due to the absence of transaction records. (FAT! Aug. ’21, Mar. ’22)
      4. IDOC clients are encouraged to articulate their issues and be patient when approaching their problems through policy. Too often, their efforts are dismissed by staff who don’t take an appropriate amount of time to review that which is being presented. More attention needs to be given to the organized efforts, grievances and concerns of the resident population. (Ref: “Exhausted Grievances In Summary“)

On behalf of all held in IDOC facilities, thank you for helping our voices be heard.

PULLED FROM THE LOG OF PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS: #R002143-071022

I am requesting all records and information relating to a JPay eMessage that I sent to resident [redacted] on 7/7/2022 3:16:13 am and that was censored on July 7th at 6:37 am.

Said records should include but not be limited to:

      1. Names/Associate #’s of all persons involved in the flagging, censoring viewing (or similar) of said eMessage.
      2. All reasons, views, opinions or similar for flagging, censoring,
        viewing (or similar) the eMessage.
      3. All actions taken by all above persons in this matter (examples–communications with other staff, documentations, notes, c-notes, information reports… etc.
      4. All measures taken in this matter to ensure the protection of my Constitutional Rights to Free Speech.

I do not need a copy of the eMessage I sent or the email notification sent to me notifying me of the censorship, as I already have this info.

SICI STAFF HOLD MOCK ELECTION, PROVIDE RESIDENTS VOTING EXPERIENCE

Last month, Education Instructor Kimberly King recruited staff and residents from the Southern Idaho Correctional Institution to celebrate Election Day with an exciting civic exercise.

Together, they transformed the education building into a voting station with American-themed ephemera and highly surveilled privacy booths.

Roughly a dozen residents assumed the position of poll workers, kindly distributing the feel of freedom through non-hackable paper ballots.

With local media summoned to witness, several participants expressed their deep appreciation for being able to partake in the time-honored tradition celebrated by Americans who are more than 3/5 human.

According to the Idaho Statesman, over 590,000 ballots were processed in Idaho this election year.

At the time of Election Day, due to their involvement with the criminal justice system, approximately 25,381 Idahoans were restricted from voting .

Idaho is one of 14 states that restore the voting rights of citizens convicted of felonies once their sentencing requirements are fulfilled. But voting restoration varies from state to state; some states reinstate a person’s voting rights once they are paroled, some revoke the right entirely, and others discriminate based on a person’s crime.

Sources: Alex Brizee, “Who Couldn’t Vote? How Idaho’s Incarcerated Learned to Participate in Mock Election,” Idaho Statesman. Emily White, ” ‘It Gives Me Goosebumps’: Idaho Correctional Residents Get to ‘Vote On Election Day’,” Idahopress.com

COVID NEWS

Since the start of COVID-19, the IDOC has administered over 80,753 tests to those of its clients it’s keeping in-state. More than 7,012 are reported as positive.

Visitation remains fluid. Please view the Department’s website for updates.

On November 10, ktvb.com reported the IDOC aims to add 73 correctional officers to its staff through a “double-training academy” to alleviate staff-based issues.

Requests for COVID boosters and flu shots have now taken months to fill. According to one IMSI nurse, a shipment of shots arrived but never made it into the refrigerator, leaving them to spoil before they could be distributed.

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.

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Ofc. Jayden Bentley and Corporal Golden Maverick were awarded employees of the month last month at IMSI.

University of Idaho graduate and Givens Hall case manager Becky Lynn was recently celebrated with a 15 Years of Service Certificate.

IMSI resident and First Amend This! author Patrick Irving published a guest essay last month in the New York Times, an accomplishment he credits to the Prison Journalism Project, a non-profit initiative that counts him as member. Click here to read “Prisoners Like Me Are Being Held Hostage to Price Hikes.”

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 then come out of incarceration to live on parole.

Off-air, with St. Vincent de Paul, Mr. Renick and his team support individuals returning from prison to the greater Treasure Valley by offering day-one services, recovery and employment programs.

Those expecting to be released without a ride from the Kuna complex south of Boise can ask their case manager to contact Mark’s team for a pickup. A volunteer will arrive and provide a limited shuttle service, including trips to one of two reentry outposts where individuals may receive bus passes, clothing vouchers, food assistance, telephone service and more.

District 3
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 10am – 2pm (closed Wednesdays)
Canyon County Probation and Parole Offices
3110 Cleveland Rd.
Caldwell, ID 83605

District 4
Monday – Friday, 9am – 12pm
3217 Overland Blvd.
Boise, ID 83705

Visit svdpid.org for more information.

RESIDENT AUDITING 101

The following public records requests were submitted in November:

      1. All pre-prosecution diversion program grant applications and awards.
      2. November’s log of public records requests.
      3. All payments made from Keefe to the IDOC from 2020 to present.
      4. The market data Keefe presented, as required, to the IDOC to justify the price increases the company implemented in May.
      5. A complete list of payments made from prison service providers to the IDOC in 2022, and a complete list of activities from all financial accounts those payments were funneled through.

October’s request for the current arrangement between the IDOC, ICSolutions and JPay has yet to be filled.

INMATE SERVICES AT WORK

Re: Interview request, KTVB-TV

11.6.22

Dear Ms. Romero,

Thank you for reading my NY Times essay and for reaching out regarding an interview. While I am certainly willing to appear in your story, I’d like to clarify the scope and direction of your coverage to prepare, and possibly to ensure that I am not missing an opportunity to address other interesting topics. One area for possible focus that is closely related to my essay is the trauma to families who are caught in our juvenile justice system, which allows third-party collectors to pile on exorbitant fees. Another possible topic is the questionable nutritional guidance affecting Idaho’s female prisoners, who in many cases receive half the food portions served to men. There is also an issue with those of our IDOC residents with better-paying jobs who have some trouble saving for needed expenses during reentry.

You can contact me…

I realize that much or your focus right now is on elections. Please take your time in responding.

Sincerely,
Patrick Irving

RESOURCES FOR INCARCERATED PERSONS

The Prison Journalism Project (PJP) is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan national initiative that works to educate and empower incarcerated writers and train others impacted by incarceration in journalism. PJP counts among its membership an expansive vault of talent. In addition to sharing their stories through PJP publications, the initiative also publishes their work through collaborations with mainstream media.

Prison Journalism Project
2093 Philadelphia Pike #1054
Claymont, DE 19703

www.prisonjournalismproject.org

Click here to read: “A PJP Contributor’s First Byline in the New York Times. Here’s How the Sausage Was Made.” by Mason Bryan

SUGGESTION BOX

How about we try placing the next delivery of IMSI flu shots and COVID boosters directly into the refrigerator, where they belong, so that we might distribute them before the facility gets sick again?

And there you have it, folks. Come back and see us next year.

Shout out from Patrick to that pigeon-loving peach worm living in Berlin!

“Bang!”
–AJR

Next: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Jan. ’23

First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Nov. ’22

Previous: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Oct. ’22 (The Ad-Seg Issue)

Welcome to the November 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 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.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Thank you new subscribers (!) for committing to keeping tabs on Idaho’s prison news.

What you should know before we begin:

      1. This being the November issue, its coverage is limited to events that took place throughout October.
      2. This newsletter functions as a both an information resource and an outlet for this editor to get creative with his therapy. Please take this into consideration as you surf through every issue.
      3. Without some level of encouragement and support from our correctional staff, I would find it much more difficult to provide the scope of service that I now do. It’s important to me that I provide the staff with the same support and encouragement.

Let’s First Amend This!

KEEFE STRIKES AGAIN!

The Keefe Group is at it again; pilfering prisoners pockets in the kind of criminal-minded manner that even those restricted from school zones are comfortable deeming unconscionable.

On October 21st, the Keefe Commissary Network announced that several previously discontinued fan favorites were set to return again, at up to three times their original rates. Including but not limited to: macaroni and cheese, black beans, flour tortillas, popcorn, saltine crackers, hot pickles, cookies, Moon Pies and peanuts.

Those already struggling to afford holiday phone calls can now purchase pre-cooked bacon for $82.77 per pound ($11.64 for a 2.25 oz package).

Sugar-free Werthers, the sole hard candy that remains unaffected by the ongoing prohibition, implemented by the Department in effort to combat alcoholism, is now running an even race with the per-pound price of chicken: $25.14.

Though the IDOC recognizes the need to prepare its residents for eventual reintegration back into the community, it seems that by continuing to approve of Keefe’s ridiculous pricing decisions, which do little more than leech from prisoners’ hard earned coffers, that the Department is increasingly comfortable with nickel-and-diming its clients out of the finances they need to embark on a successful reentry.

Find this article interesting? Learn more: The Commissary Pricelist for Idaho Prisoners and the Revenue Sharing Arrangement that Awards Setting the Highest Prices Possible.

IDOC SERVINGS SIZED SMALLER FOR VAGINAS

Sunday is Starve Day in Idaho prisons. Lunch service consists of bland nutritional muffins, bagged up at breakfast to munch on at noon. The men who find them edible are offered two to eat, but the Department’s female clients are provided with just one.

And muffins aren’t the only food where women receive smaller portions. According to the IDOC’s female food service menus, they also receive reduced rations of the following: biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, French toast, Farina, pancakes, hash browns, breakfast hash, roast beef, bread, cornbread, vegan bread, hamburger buns, vegan buns, ketchup, peanut butter, potato chips, corn dogs, turkey, tuna salad, ham salad, margarine, rice, refried beans, 3-bean salad and baked fries.

When asked in December to speculate on the disparity found within the portion allotments, IMSI staff and residents were quick to point out that men are required to carry the massive weight of a penis and well-fed women face an uphill battle finding and keeping husbands. “And husbandless ladies’ chances of survivin’ ain’t all that good.” Especially for those, they say, who are released from captivity in Idaho, where minimal effort is given to prepare them for the workforce and felons face great difficulty finding decent housing.

Though this reporter strongly disagrees with their reasoning, he can do little but wonder: What other food service is capable of serving females half-portions and escaping the kind of scrutiny that changes a regime?

Sources: IDOC Food Service Menus 7.0: Male/Female, Mainline, Healthy Choice Ovo-lacto, Vegan

WOMEN SOON TO RECEIVE (SOME OF) THE SAME JOB TRAINING AS MEN

The Idaho Workforce Development Council has awarded the IDOC with a $25,000 grant that will be used to provide residents of the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center (PWCC) with what the Department describes as “a rigorous, competency-based, industry-recognized program that will provide women at the facility with the foundational and construction skills to be competitive in an entry level vocational or construction-career field.”

IDOC Director Josh Tewalt describes the grant as an investment in public safety. “When people are equipped with job skills while incarcerated, they are more likely to succeed as law-abiding citizens and less likely to return to prison.”

Idaho’s incarcerated female population is recognized to suffer from higher rates of mental health and substance abuse issues, and also carry more childhood trauma than those in the general public.

According to a 2021 Bureau of Justice Statistics report, Idaho incarcerates women at a rate higher than any other state within the US.

In 2020, 110 per 100,000 women in Idaho found themselves locked behind bars; a rate more than double the national average.

Earlier this year, Idaho set aside $112 million to construct a new 848-bed women’s prison, but only $2.5 million to create the pre-prosecution diversion strategies recommended by the state’s Opioid Task Force and Behavioral Health Council.

Programs similar to the one scheduled for PWCC are already available at the following men’s facilities: Idaho State Correctional Center, Idaho State Correctional Institution, North Idaho Correctional Institution, Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino.

Sources: Pocatello Women’s Prison to Offer Job Training to Residents This Fall,” Idoc.idaho.gov. Rachel Cohen, “Idaho Has the Highest Female Incarceration Rate In the Country,” Boise State Public Radio News. “Idaho Department of Correction JFAC Presentation (1-18-22)

JUDGE AWARDS ROUGHLY $2.5M IN LEGAL FEES TO FORMER PRISONER’S LEGAL TEAM

A federal judge has awarded roughly $2.5 million in fees to the legal team that represented Adree Edmo in a case of deliberate indifference.

Diagnosed in 2012 with severe gender dysphoria, a condition described as one in which the dissonance between a person’s gender identity and assigned sex at birth causes severe emotional distress and dangerous impairment of life functions, Edmo filed suit in 2017, seeking to be treated with gender confirmation surgery.

In 2018, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled in Edmo’s favor; Idaho appealed, drawing out the legal battle and delaying the surgery longer.

Though the surgery itself was covered by insurance, by October 2020, the State of Idaho, at Governor Brad Little’s direction, had already spent a minimum of $456,738 in legal fees.

Fortunately for the state, its former prison healthcare provider, Corizon Health, Inc., has agreed to pay the entire $2.5 million award.

After receiving her gender confirmation surgery in 2020, Edmo was transferred to a women’s prison, from where she was later released in 2021.

Sources: Rebecca Boone, “Transgender Inmate Who Sued Idaho to Get $2.5M in Legal Fees,” Associated Press. Mark Wilson, “Idaho Provides Nation’s Second Gender Confirmation Surgery for Transgender Prisoner,” Prison Legal News. Betsy Russell, “US Supreme Court Rejects Idaho’s Appeal In Transgender Inmate Surgery Case,” Idaho Press.

NEW TRAUMA TREATMENT PROGRAM SHOWS PROGRESS IN CORRECTIONS

“Correctional staff experience high levels of stress, burnout and other mental-health related consequences. They also experience higher rates of PTSD and suicide compared to those of the general working-age population. Stress and trauma can impact all aspects of one’s life, including relationships with family, friends, coworkers, and various hobbies and obligations.” — Idaho Department of Correction

The IDOC has launched phase one of a new pilot program that aims to provide trauma treatment and intervention services to correctional staff and their clients.

The Department is now looking to distribute a total of $500,000 in grants to providers capable of delivering holistic treatment options to staff suffering from stress, fatigue and trauma.

Residents will participate in the program’s later phases, which are expected to offer the following, and more:

      • mental health interventions
      • one-on-one incident response
      • trauma-informed yoga
      • cognitive processing therapies
      • mindfulness techniques
      • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR)

Should all phases of the program unfold as expected, the treatments offered to residents will be seen as light years ahead of those they received for approximately the last twenty years. Once billed to the public as Therapeutic Communities (TCs), the shame-based treatment approaches deployed until 2015 did more to compound residents’ problems than they did to address root causes.

Within a lawsuit brought against the IDOC in 2013, several men filed declarations with the Court describing how, in order to maintain their place in the TC program–which the state required be completed prior to receiving parole–they were forced to participate in the following practices, dished out as punishments and referred to as “image breakers”: close-contact twerk-offs, pretending to lick a popsicle, dragging one’s buttocks across the floor like a dog that has worms, pretending to eat a burrito with the contents falling out (which participants say was designed by other prisoners to have one mimic fellatio), and playing piggly-wiggly (shaking one’s buttocks on all fours while snorting like a pig).

In a 2016 judgement, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill commented on the efficacy of the Department’s TC programs: “After reading the numerous inmate affidavits detailing the indignities inmates suffered under the guise of ‘treatment,’ the Court is not surprised by the increased recidivism rate.”

Professionals interested in applying to participate in the new trauma treatment programs are asked to send their questions to grants@idoc.idaho.gov.

Sources: Idoc.idaho.gov. Cynthia Sewell, “Kempf Ushers In New Era for Idaho Department of Correction“, Idaho Statesman. Case 1:13-cv-00332-BLW, Custodio v. Idaho State Board of Correction.

IDJC AWARDS GRANTS TO BUILD TROUBLED YOUTH ASSESSMENT CENTERS

Using funds set aside in Idaho’s 2022 legislative session, the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections (IDJC) has awarded eight grants to be used for the construction of troubled youth assessment centers throughout the seven judicial districts within the State of Idaho.

KHQ Local News reports that the centers will used to screen and assess youth referred by law enforcement. After screening, the youth will be assigned to community provider services, where they will receive a case manager who will implement the (likely algorithmic) recommended level of care.

The National Assessment Center Association (NACA) is working closely with the state and the IDJC to establish the guidelines by which the centers will operate, and also to provide ongoing technical assistance.

According to Boise’s KTVB news anchor Morgan Romero, who reported on the center soon to open in Ada County, “NACA’s best practices show these centers save law enforcement time, improve coordination between agencies working with kids and get kids and their families help faster before either hit a crisis point.”

All eight centers are expected to become operational by June 30, 2023, but it is yet to be reported how they plan to stay funded and how families will be charged for the level of care received.

Earlier this year, during a sit-down with Boise State Public Radio host George Prentice, Idaho Justice Project Director Erika Marshall, along with Kendra Knighten, an associate with the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy and Idaho Voices for Children, discussed how families entangled in Idaho’s juvenile justice system are critically impacted by the system’s many fees.

Citing info available at the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy website, Prentice shared how one family that was forced to pay for public defender representation, mental health assessments, collection fees, cost of confinement and more, reported a crippling negative balance of $27,950, including added-on collection fees of up to 33 percent.

In 2021, more than 5,600 families of young men and women were assessed “cost of care” fees while the youth were in custody of the IDJC.

In the same year, Idaho identified roughly 198,000 cases of outstanding cost-of-care fees.

To learn more of the impacts these fees have on Idaho families, please visit: https://idahofiscal.org/removing-barriers-to-yourth-and-family-success-the-role-of-state-juvenile-cost-of-care-fees/

Sources: Morgan Romero, “New Youth Assessment Center Coming to Ada County,” KTVB.com. Noah Corrin, “Idaho to Create Assessment Centers to Divert Kids from Criminal Justice and Child Welfare Systems,” KHQ Local News. George Prentice, “As Thousands of Idaho Juvenile Offenders Remain in the Same System, Families are Shackled to Cost,” Boise State Pubic Radio.

FIRST AMEND THIS! INDUCTED INTO THE AMERICAN PRISON NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES

On March 24, 1800, “Forlorn Hope” became the first American newspaper to be published by an incarcerated person. Since then, over 500 periodicals have been published by U.S. prisoners, providing the public with a look at what goes on behind our nation’s prison walls.

Thanks to an amazing collaboration facilitated by Reveal Digital, many of these publications can now be accessed through the academic database JSTOR. The database implements a free digital library that provides access to over 12 million academic journal articles, books, images, contributed collections and primary sources.

The collection was made fully open-access in July, 2021, and is fittingly titled “American Prison Newspapers 1800 – 2020: Voices from the Inside.”

First Amend This! is proud to announce that this publication is now licensed under the CC-BY license, which will allow it to be repurposed and added to the collection.

As JSTOR provides an offline version of its database to prisons and jails across the nation, it is expected that our own newsletter archive will soon be accessible in facilities using the database.

COVID NEWS

Since the start of COVID-19, the IDOC has administered over 80,256 tests to its in-state clients. More than 6,954 are reported as positive.

Visitation remains disrupted at one or more facilities. Please view the Department’s website for the most current updates:

Those who have received their initial COVID vaccination are encouraged by the Department to follow up with booster shots.

Multiple residents report requesting covid boosters and flu shots, but have yet to receive word as to when they can be expected.

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.

AN IDOC ANNOUNCEMENT: THANKSGIVING MENU 2022

As you may have heard, the US is currently experiencing one of the worst bird flu epidemics on record. Nearly 50 million birds have already died from the disease, with 8 million of those being turkeys. The outbreak has greatly affected the supply of eggs and poultry. Although we’ve tried to avoid/delay menu changes as much as possible, our first meal to take a ‘hit’ will be Thanksgiving. Despite attempting to order turkeys early to be at the front of the line, our orders were denied by poultry producers. There simply isn’t enough to go around, and the retail (grocery store) markets get first priority.

As such, IDOC has purchased fresh pork loin roasts for the upcoming holiday meals. The Thanksgiving menu will include this freshly roasted pork, along with the usual trimmings (mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, vegetables, pie).

If you’re a die-hard turkey fan, I apologize that we aren’t able to provide it at this time. Some things are simply out of our control. It is still the goal of food service staff, however, to ensure a nice holiday meal, and I’m confident that although the Thanksgiving meal will look a little different this year, it will still be tasty and filling!

LIEUTENANT GREG HEUN IN THE CLEARWATER TRIBUNE

ICI-O Lieutenant Greg Heun has taken his talent for writing to the Clearwater Tribune, where he proudly presents kudos to his coworkers and provides the general public with a look behind the scenes.

Linked below are a few of Lieutenant Heun’s articles that we strongly encourage you take the time read.

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 then come out of incarceration to live on parole.

Last month, Mark welcomed to the show Gigi Crist with the Rock Harbor Church in Meridian. Since April, Gigi’s church has been running the Regeneration Program, which is described as a Christian 12-step discipleship and recovery program that encourages self-examination. The two discussed the program’s setting and how to get involved.

Mark also featured Shawn Rucker on the show. As a 59-year-old returning citizen turned advocate, Shawn relayed the importance of preparing for reentry the day one enters prison. His experience exemplifies how one’s willingness to change must outweigh their pride before they’re able to fully utilize all available resources.

Visit svdpid.org for reentry resources and programs available in Southern Idaho.

RESIDENT AUDITING 101

A public records request for all Pre-Prosecution Diversion Program grant applications and awards was returned in October with “no records found.”

A request has been submitted for all Keefe sales volume reports and revenue payments made from April to present, as well as all notes, minutes and documents from commissary review committee meetings that took place in the same period.

A request has been submitted for the log of public records requested in October.

A grievance has been filed in an attempt to expedite April’s requests for:

      • Keefe sales volume reports for the weeks of 7-15-21 and 1-21-22
      • Notes, minutes and documents from the two commissary review committee meetings prior to 4-19-22, as well as all written requests submitted to the contract manager prior to these meetings
      • Revenue payments made from Keefe to IDOC from March ’21 to March ’22

CORRECTION!

Where it was implied in the August issue that CentuyLink is currently contracted to provide the IDOC with communication services, it has since been brought to our attention that company’s contract has expired. A public records request for current arrangements between the IDOC and its communication service providers has been submitted.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES FOR INCARCERATED PERSONS

Thanks go out to Charlotte West with the College Inside newsletter for introducing us to “The Sentences That Create Us.” This book, which features the work of more than fifty writers, is filled with advice, inspiration and prison writer resources.

PEN America is now distributing 75,000 free copies to incarcerated individuals, prison libraries, and higher education/creative writing programs that are currently working with justice-involved comunities.
A copy can be requested online at https://t.co/ST7zHTQawK, or by writing to:

Prison Writing Program
c/o PEN America
588 Broadway, Ste. 303
New York, NY 10012

College Inside, a newsletter about prison education, is produced by Open Campus, a national nonprofit newsroom that covers college-in-prison programs, Pell Grants for incarcerated students, career and technical education, and education in juvenile justice facilities.

Sign up at https://www.opencampusmedia.org/college-inside/

INMATE SERVICES AT WORK

The Carden [Consulting] Group
P.O. Box 693
Jefferson City, MO 65102

10.13.22

Dear Carden Group,

To help better morale and perception in the case of the IDOC, I suggest you work with the Department to promote its current strategic goals to those of its clients it’s keeping in-custody. Though parts of their plan periodically shine through, the only means by which most of us have to come apprised in full is by submitting and sorting through public records requests. With nothing less than the morale of tens of thousands at stake–including extended networks through which our gripes all filter–I believe it would pay to share all goals through prison unit message boards, where they might not only be appreciated, but also help inspire.

Thank you for considering.

In friendship and incarceration,
Patrick Irving 82431

SUGGESTION BOX

I suggest that Centurion Health pick up the pace with boosters and flu shots. And while they’re at it, maybe also try returning once in a while to read our tuberculosis test results. With tuberculosis classified as a deadly, infectious disease, the company is continuing to place our staff and residents at risk.

Bam! Thanks to everyone who joined us for yet another monthly session.

Shout out to Mason, Yukari and the entire PJP family!

“B.O.B.”
— Outkast

Next: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Dec. ’22

Patrick Published in the New York Times – November 2, 2022

NYTimes.com “Prisoners Like Me Are Being Held Hostage to Price Hikes”

[Update Nov. 5th, 2022 – An additional Q&A with Patrick in the NYT Opinion Today newsletter]

A BIG!!! thanks to Mason Bryan and Yukari Kane at the Prison Journalism Project  for proposing, editing and facilitating the  opportunity to present a guest essay describing how inflation is impacting justice-affected families, and is being compounded by prison service providers.

Mason describes the work that went into the essay at “A PJP Contributor’s First Byline in the New York Times.”

PolyKatze Provides the Means to Hit Patrick with an ‘Attaboy!’

Slightly Unhinged button

Thanks to a Berlin-based artist with a generous eye for talent, a few of my favorite creative works can now be shared and taken home on a selection of items offered at https://Polykatze.threadless.com

Check it out:

Behold! We are PolyKatze!! Accumulate our things and accrue our sleek affection!!!

Chosen to chronicle the human endeavor by that big, benevolent pussy purring playfully from the sky, our kind have silently sat by absorbing your culture as confidants in conquest who are more than meets the eye.

And were it not (!) for Delilah’s insatiable yearning to bestow in mundane detail every aspect of her life, we never would have managed to guess the passwords needed to unveil our mutant presence with such versatile merchandise.

Now show off to all your friends the things we do with extra thumbs!

 

“Of Winter Essence” greeting card

For anyone interested in incrementally supporting my work, a portion of each purchase bearing one of my imprints will be applied towards my pursuits, personal expenses and this platform–thereby allowing me to ease the financial burden my poor choices have placed on my family.

[Warning: Clicking through reveals yet another questionable choice. Childhood humor, not suitable for all.]

Bonér tee shirt

Thanks for checking it out, I hope you enjoy your finds.

In friendship and incarceration,
Patrick

Unique Graphic Poem Available for Publishing

This poem first appeared in the August ’22 edition of First Amend This! Originally inserted into an article on prison profiteers, the title graphic, the same view I have when I look outside my window, contains 50 stars, 13 stripes, and was created using the limited formatting options I’m offered on my prison messaging device. As a short poem, it’s one of my favorites–and I’d love to see it published elsewhere if possible.

—————————————————–
****|****|****|****|****|****|*
…………!!!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.
—————————————————–

Note: This poem falls under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license , a choice made to allow it to be viewed in its original context in the American Prison Newspaper Archives (found within the academic database JSTOR).

Thanks for viewing.

Patrick Irving 82431
IMSI
PO Box 51
Boise, ID 83707
bookofirving82431.com
messaging via JPay.com

Updates and Efforts Presented Through Letters

Anne R.
Senior Editor, Reveal Digital
One Liberty Plaza/165 Broadway, 5th Fl.
New York, NY 10006

8.31.22

Hi Anne!

Good to hear that everything should transfer smoothly. I’ll be able to send the agreement back just as soon as I receive it. Unfortunately, my facility won’t allow stationery or envelopes to come through the mail, but no worries–I can handle the postage. If it really is important to compensate for this expense, the best way may be to just send it to my father. I say this because the fees associated with crediting my accounts would likely be more than whatever you send. If that’s okay with you, go ahead and send it…

… Thank you again for including me in your archives. One of the primary reasons I decided to launch my project was that I felt a crazy need to accurately preserve for historical reference Idaho’s current correctional state. To know that I’ve made your archives relieves my shoulders of ineffable weight.

I will forever be grateful.

Truly,
Patrick Irving 82431
IMSI
PO Box 51
Boise, ID 83707
bookofirving82431.com
Messaging via JPay.com

[Routed through JPay]

Professor E.
Cerebral Sensei
Justice Force, New York Branch
*Location: Undisclosed*

9.17.22

Hi Professor,

It’s good to hear back from you. It means a lot to receive such a strong level of encouragement and understanding from you and your students. I’m excited to get started.

Here are few ideas I’m looking to explore:

1) Though much research has been devoted to the effect that correctional therapies, postsecondary education and vocational training have on recidivism rates, I am personally not familiar with any studies that track the success rates of incarcerated individuals who act in leadership roles during incarceration. And by this I mean classroom assistants, instructors and mentors. I believe it would be interesting to study and compare the recidivism rates of those who have assumed these or similar roles at various points throughout incarceration–along with the rates of incarcerated authors and activists, who often times act in a leadership capacity by assuming responsibilities that carry the weight of a group.

It is my personal opinion that such research could be used to better illuminate the restorative properties of civic engagement.

Possible resources to work with this thought:

I am aware of a few organizations leading restorative justice programs (MILPA, Vera Institute), and others that focus on training formerly incarcerated leaders to civically engage and organize within their communities (Just Leadership USA, various Peace and Justice Projects and community projects). I have also read of civic groups in prison that work toward respectable goals (Inside Members and a women’s group featured in one of the first issues of the Marshall Project’s “News Inside”). And where my own DOC is said to have formed a resident advisory council (still a mystery to me), I suspect there may be others doing something similar.

2) Something else I would enjoy looking into are policies and laws for disposing of or donating prisoner property.

In Idaho, it’s our DOC’s policy to donate certain property confiscations (those marked by prisoners as “donate” instead of “dispose” or “send out”) to non-profit organizations, but it appears that no records are kept to verify this happens and no clear criteria to qualify recipients. Though the items confiscated aren’t exactly of high value, they are typically sold at costs capable of adding up significantly.

To me, the lack of record keeping and lack of qualifying criteria present concerns ranging everywhere from whether nonprofits ran by prison employees might be considered as eligible recipients, to whether prisoners possess the right to decide where their charity goes.*

One must also wonder if the property confiscated by private prison corporations can be similarly donated and then used as a charitable write-off.

Thank you again, Professor, and please extend my gratitude to your students. I’m excited to receive feedback on either train of thought.

* I’ve a public records request and grievance related to this issue linked to a few paragraphs in my First Amend This! August ’22 newsletter.

Kindly,
Patrick

[Sent over JPay]

Tyler Walton, Esq.
Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative
Bernstein Institute of Human Rights — NYU Law
139 MacDougal St, B23
New York, NY 10012

9.18.22

Dear Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative,

Thank you for sending another effective learning module from your national Legal Empowerment and Practice Series. As a journalist who frequently requests public records to inform on operations from within my DOC, I was elated to discover the focus of this module is the power to be pulled through the Freedom of Information Act. I found it a wonderful lesson that is sure to benefit many and I’m excited to hear the ways that others have been applying it.

The enclosed list was produced earlier this year, after I requested my DOC inform me of all cases they are currently litigating; I hope you’ll consider introducing your initiative to the plaintiffs still imprisoned. I suspect they’ll be excited to relay and participate in future efforts.

Cheers,
Patrick Irving

9.20.22

Hi Anne,

I’m afraid I don’t have any PDF versions. The only other format in which people view the newsy is when it’s printed off and sent the way I did the May issue, with the box in the top-right corner that says, “This monthly newsy and other creative and informative prison-lit can be found online @ bookofirving82431.com. Thanks for leaving this copy where others can read it.”

Also–I don’t know if you’ve seen it yet, but I signed CC-BY on the licensing agreement and returned it roughly a week ago. While I trust it to make it to you without any problems, please let me know if it doesn’t and we’ll try it again.

I hope all is well,
Patrick

[Routed through JPay]

Transparency Department
Idaho Department of Correction
1299 N. Orchard, Ste. 110
Boise, ID 83706

9-21-22

Dear Transparency Department,

I am still awaiting your response to two Resident Concern Forms I sent to you in July through institutional mail. One was an attempt to clarify how structured arrangements with outside organizations have been made without using MOUs and contracts; the other, an inquiry into several public records requests that have remained unfilled since April, regarding information pertaining to dealings with Keefe. These requests are necessary for follow-up on an article published in May that is expected to soon be republished by a national organization.

Enclosed is a copy of the IDOC newsletter in which both communications I am referring to have been printed. If you could see that they get the attention they’re entitled to, I will ensure that your effort serves the public’s interest.

In friendship and incarceration,
Patrick Irving 82431

Office of Professional Standards
Idaho Department of Correction
1299 N. Orchard, Ste. 110
Boise, ID 83706

9-21-22

Office of Professional Standards:

I am concerned with what appears to be a complete absence of records for the Inmate Management Fund and unreasonable delays in public records requested to examine the Department’s dealings with the Keefe Group. Both issues are described in the materials I’ve enclosed. Please give them the level of attention they deserve.

— Patrick Irving 82431

Harper’s Magazine
ATTN: Editor
666 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

9.21.22

Hello there,

You had me at “free issue.” And then I reviewed the titles that worked magic for your promo and envisioned us two scooting loftily tandem by the sea.

I don’t know what I’ll write for you yet… likely something that fits within your submission guidelines, should you be so generous as to return them in the envelope I’ve enclosed.

Also enclosed, you may notice, is one complementary issue of the monthly I piece together. Should you find yourself displeased enough to avoid a year subscription, I’ll ask that you not troll the fact they’re offered free online.

Redundantly,
Patrick Irving

[Attached: “First Amend This! Aug. ’22.”

Digital Articles Editor
The Harbinger, Review of Law and Social Change
110 W. 3rd St.
New York, NY 10012

9.22.22

Hi Lily,

Nice to hear from you. I appreciate the feedback on this month’s newsy. You’re right to say that Idaho appears to be making efforts to address longstanding issues within its correctional system. I would even go so far as to say our DOC’s current leadership team is proving to be the right kind of ambitious. Of course they remain limited by bureaucracy and politics, but any glimmer of hope is better than none…

…And here is some news that you may appreciate: I recently signed a Creative Commons agreement that will allow Reveal Digital to add all of my newsletters to JSTOR. The academic database is currently archiving two hundred years of prison newspapers, and I was able to convince them that mine belongs there too! It’s exciting to know that my work will be archived for curious individuals to sort through in the future.

Again, it was really nice to hear from you. And sorry to ruin the surprise of the card… I hope that it reaches you with out any issues.

If I’ve left you with questions, please let me know. You’re welcome to drop in for whatever reason anytime.

Take care,
Patrick

[Sent over JPay]

9.24.22

Hi Professor E!

Good to hear both queries will be enough to get us started. I am excited to see what your students return with and will eagerly await to unpack all their findings.

In the meantime, with the IDOC set to implement the Restoring Promise Program, I will begin inquiring into the ways that one applies to be a mentor and whether my participation might be viewed upon as detriment. I will likely also introduce myself to the Department’s research analyst, Dr. Janeena White (jawhite@idoc.idaho.gov), and offer to establish an open, working channel. But before doing that, I will ask my case manager to note in my file that we’re set to collaborate and open to suggestions.

Should you or your students have additional suggestions, I tend to regard all my own working projects as experiments in which observer participation is encouraged. So please don’t be shy, it’s an incredible privilege to be included your studies and I’m open to all ideas. Every single one!

I look forward to a lengthy, productive, empowering collaboration.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Truly,
Patrick

[Sent over JPay]

Bobby Wasabi
Friend on the Outside
(The names have been changed but the story is real.)

10.8.22

Hi Bobby,

Thank you for reaching out on behalf of Mr. West. Because my DOC has restrictions on inmate-to-inmate correspondence, I would need to submit a request for permission to correspond directly, and I’m afraid the odds of being approved aren’t all that good on my end. I will, however, be happy to try if you can provide me with the information needed to fill out the request.

In the meantime, I’ll see if I can’t find an alternative way to communicate. Should you or Kanye have suggestions, they would certainly be helpful. Otherwise, please be sure to check your messages in case I send new info.

Thank you again for your assistance, B. Your involvement means a lot!

— Patrick

[Sent over secret channels which one may never know.]

Evening Street Press
2881 Wright St.
Sacremento, CA 95281

10.9.22

Dear Evening Street Press/DIY Prison Project,

I found you listed in PEN America’s “The Sentences That Create Us” and am writing to ask under what guidelines you’re willing to accept submissions. Enclosed is a copy of the monthly newsy I write and a call to participate in the project I operate from prison. On page 3 of the newsy is a short poem titled “America,” in which I’ve managed to work into the title 50 stars and 13 stripes in a way that resembles the view from behind prison windows. You’re welcome to it if interested, as well as any of the work that can be found on my website. Of course, if it’s original work you’re after, I’ll be happy to follow whatever guidelines you set.

Thank you for your time and your efforts. I look forward to sharing you as resource for incarcerated writers.

Sincerely,
Patrick Irving

[Attached: First Amend This! Aug. ’22., Advocate Networking Request.]

The American Prospect
1225 I Street NW, ste. 600
Washington, D.C. 20005

10.9.22

Dear The American Prospect,

I am writing to ask under what guidelines you’re willing to accept submissions from prison and to introduce myself and my project, operated from within. Enclosed is an issue of the monthly newsletter I write and a networking request–both shared on my website with the rest of my work. In the event that it interests you, I recently licensed my newsy under Create Commons BY, to see it distributed it as widely as possible with the help of Reveal Digital, ITHAKA and the JSTOR platform.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration, I hope to be submitting sometime in the near feature.

Regards,
Patrick Irving

[Attached: “First Amend This! May ’22.”, Advocate Networking Request.]

All Rise Media
PO Box 2485
Portland, OR 97208

10.9.22

Dear All Rise Media,

I found you listed as a resource in PEN America’s “The Sentences That Create Us” and am writing to inquire on your guidelines for submissions. I have enclosed a copy of the newsletter I write and an outreach request that has served me from prison. Should you visit my site and find items of interest, I’ll be happy to see them shared and republished. Otherwise, I’ll look forward to submitting original work in the future.

Genuinely,
Patrick Irving 82431

[Attached: “First Amend This! July ’22“, Advocate Networking Request.]

The Beat Within
PO Box 34310
San Francisco, CA 94134

10.10.22

Dear The Beat Within,

Greetings from Idaho! After finding you listed as a youth resource in PEN America’s “The Sentences That Create Us,” I asked a friend to visit your site for a little more information. Upon discovering that your organization encourages literacy, self-expression, developing critical thinking skills and building healthy, supportive relationships with adults and the community, I thought it would be nice to introduce myself and few creative ways that I, too, attempt to check those boxes–this, of course, with the hope of inspiring a few of your youth members. Should those in your network have any questions, I’m happy to make myself available in whatever way I can.

Best wishes in all you do.

In friendship,
Patrick Irving

[Attached: “Built to Scale: A COVID-Proof Reflective Reading Program With Peer Support Components (Total Pilot Cost: $150)“, “First Amend This! June ’22“, Advocate Networking Request.]

Idaho Department of Correction
Attn: Research Analyst Dr. Janeena White
1299 N Orchard. St., ste. 110
Boise, ID 83706

10.11.22

Dear Dr. White,

Recently offered a small group of students, volunteered by their professor to collaborate with me on research, I thought to extend to you an invitation to keep apprised of our efforts and inform you that your feedback will be welcome anytime. One of the questions we are currently focused on is whether individuals placed in positions of leadership during incarceration recidivate differently than others. Should you come aware of any studies or data relevant to our quest, I ask that you consider dropping me a line.

Enclosed is treasure trail to other stuff I do–the newsletters are soon to be made available on JSTOR.

Luck in all your projects,
Patrick Irving 82431

[Enclosed: “First Amend This! May ’22“]

Type Media Center
Attn: Type Investigations, Inside/Out Journalism Project
30 Irving Pl., 10th fl.
New York, NY 10003

10.11.22

Dear Inside/Out Journalism Project,

I come by way of solitarywatch.org, from where your organization was credited with an article. I am writing to ask for your current submission guidelines and to be added to any lists that will allow for future updates. Enclosed is a copy of the monthly newsy I write; you’re welcome to share the link, where subscriptions are free, and reach out with questions, feedback, etc.

Thank you in advance for you time and consideration. I look forward to hearing back and submitting in the future.

Regards,
Patrick Irving

[Enclosed: “First Amend This! Aug. ’22“, Advocate Networking Request.]
..

Incarcerated Writers Initiative, Columbia Artists/Teachers
415 Dodge Hall
Mail Code 1804
2960 Broadway
New York, NY 10027

10.11.22

Dear Incarcerated Writers Initiative,

I found you listed as a resource in PEN America’s “The Sentences That Create Us” and am writing to ask of your guidelines for submission. Enclosed is a copy of the monthly I publish and a shameless request to be shared with your network. I hope you’ll not mind if I list you as a resource on my site; others will surely appreciate your initiative.

Many thanks,
Patrick

[Enclosed: “First Amend This! Sept. ’22“, Advocate Networking Request.]

The Carden [Consulting] Group
P.O. Box 693
Jefferson City, MO 65102

10.13.22

Dear Carden [Consulting] Group,

To help better morale and perception in the case of the IDOC, I suggest you work with the Department to promote its current strategic goals to those of its clients it’s keeping in-custody. Though parts of its plan periodically shine through, the only means by which most of us have to come apprised in full is by submitting and sorting through public records requests. With nothing less than the morale of tens of thousands at stake–including extended networks through which our gripes all filter–I believe it would pay to share all goals through prison unit message boards, where they might not only be appreciated but also help inspire.

Thank you for considering.

In friendship and incarceration,
Patrick Irving 82431
IMSI
PO Box 51
Boise, ID 83707
bookofirving82431.com
Messaging via JPay.com

[Attached: First Amend This! Sept. ’22]

First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Oct. ’22 (The Ad-Seg Issue)

Previous: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Sept. ’22

Welcome to the October 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.

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.

EDITOR’S NOTE

This month we place focus on Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg), where clients are sent for years to fight through social deprivation in a practice deemed by the United Nations to be extremely f*cking uncool.

Despite the Department making plans in 2018 to overhaul its use of Restricted Housing Units, the only thing that has changed has been the limits on short-term stays and the excuses used to justify a failure to follow through.

And so it’s time once again to revisit the logic used to avoid the course correction that’s been promised now for years.

Where some of the articles presented in this issue are republished with edits in the interest of brevity and fairness, the grievances presented maintain their original splendor. This to allow the Department to voice its own positions and show the discourse that takes place in a properly filed grievance. I hope this will provide you with an objective look at Ad-Seg and some understanding of the damage done to those who’ve been put through it.

Let’s First Amend This!

DECEMBER 24, 2019

The view into the dayroom from window B54 at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution hasn’t changed in years. The same eight desks have sat empty in front of the television with shackles attached suggesting that they’re frequently put to use. Meant to provide opportunities for programming and interaction, the only action they’ve ever seen is when the janitor comes to dust.

Several times throughout the year, a facility wash takes place. And when the foreseeable crowd of visitors amasses in the bubble–an elevated station from where we’re guarded through large windows–someone’s finger always flies in the direction of the desks, presumably inquiring into all their many functions. The response from the guide is always seen to exceed the four syllables required to say simply, “We don’t use those.”

For the last few years now, the Department has touted plans to provide Restricted Housing Units (RHUs) with opportunities to program and socialize in controlled settings; and for the same amount of time, those who reside in RHUs have widely wondered about the information being passed on to these tour groups. Are they made aware of the mental and physical health effects that are linked to RHUs and continue long after imprisonment? Or, of the number who’ve been released directly into the community, to sort through years of isolation without resources or supervision?

What the RHU population would like these groups to know is that, in lieu of behavioral therapies or constructive opportunities, residents residing in the units long-term receive just one hour daily in a concrete, weathered cage–and only on the days in which staff are able to provide them with an escort.

“The dividers are new,” screams a voice in my vent, referring to the grates that make for windows in the concrete. “You used to have to yell through the cracks [where the concrete slabs intersect] to talk to the person next to you. It was weird, finally being able to speak to them while looking into their eyes.” Apparently, people grew so accustomed to speaking through the cracks that a few seem to prefer them over the open range of windows.

I’m gathered in the cages on a drizzly afternoon when the lattice overhead conspires with bird shit, rust and rain to further stain the jacket I’ve been sharing with 95 others. Today’s conversation, again with the new dividers: “It had to have been the tour–they never brought [the tours] out to the cages before that. We saw them come out that once and, the next thing we knew, they were putting dividers in for us. Someone must have asked them to explain themselves. They freak out whenever people ask questions.”

While use of RHUs (and RHUs by other names) continues to be seen an urgent issue across the nation, some states have been slower than others to take action. In the case of Idaho, where the IDOC has openly acknowledged the need for reform, the state appears content with having stalled on half a measure. Though the Department can be credited with reducing limits for punitive use of RHU to 15 days, the limit disappears under the label “Administrative Segregation,” that is used to isolate residents for an unspecified length of time.

Two years, says my new neighbor, is the typical length of stay. “But five at a time isn’t out of the question…”

JUNE 5, 2020

Among the Blood Unmentioned in June…

Four separate trails, outside my cell door, from upstairs to down-, each fresh from a neighbor. And collecting in a puddle, the source slammed face-down, wrists and ankles already restrained, nose broken, ethos bruised.

I watch the puddle as it grows, reaching outward toward the cages–where those unable to afford the device used to message with loved ones are led once a week to a kiosk to check for a hug. Should it manage twice that distance, that slow-going crimson ocean, it will reach the virgin desks where empty shackles all hang cold.

It’s the first cell extraction I’ve witnessed from Administrative Segregation, and it’s while choking on the gas that works to punish the whole unit (somehow used as a solution for subduing individuals) that I grab my notebook and calendar and attempt to extract a correlation from now seeing four at once:

15 Months Ago–Our RHU policies were changed to reflect the IDOC’s “commitment to Ad-Seg reform.” But the changes made in print were never put into effect and all new versions of the policy have mysteriously disappeared.

11 Months Ago–In a Board of Correction meeting, our DOC Director commended the Chief of Prisons and our warden for moving forward with ideas of installing inside caged enclosures, modified programming chairs and enclosed table modules in every RHU. These commendable ideas have not yet been pursued.

7 Months Ago–After members of staff were documented investigating themselves for misconduct, I wrote the Office of Professional Standards asking for permission to submit grievances directly to their office. That office has yet to respond.

6 Months Ago–Our warden circulated a memo promising RHU residents that they’d soon be let out of their cells for three hours daily and be provided with opportunities to participate in programming. Today, we continue to be offered one hour daily in an outside, weathered cage–and only on the days when they’re willing to take us out to rec. Nothing in the memo has proven to be true.

3 Months Ago–In-person visitation was halted due to COVID-19, and the corporation now providing “technological alternatives” has been charging for video visits that seldom seem to work.

3 Weeks Ago–I overheard the captain say to one of those now bleeding who, at that time, was still attempting to communicate issues with certain staff, “Well, then it’s up to you to be the adult…”

1 Week Ago–Management ordered staff to enforce the weekly hour of phone time we’re privileged to receive. Those sympathetic to the need for human communication must enforce the policy strictly, lest they find themselves in trouble.

12 Hours Ago–We received a memo describing the privilege we’re given to combat excessive heat no more than once a day: “Inmates must have their own container for ice. Staff will place one scoop of ice in your container. If you are not ready at your door, it will be considered a refusal of ice for the day…ice service is a privilege and can be revoked based on behavior.”

12 Hours Ago–Yet another memo informed us that, from now on, should we attempt to bring our morning coffee or magazines with us to the rec cages, it will be noted as “a refusal to participate in recreation for the day.”

As I write now–I am listening to my neighbor choke and gasp and beg to be rolled on his side for a breath; while at the same time, our DOC director is sitting behind his keyboard, responding to public outcry from the death of another who begged the same:

“I can acknowledge the pain that’s being expressed here… can listen and learn, and can choose to act in ways that move our system toward greater equity and inclusion instead of otherness… Before us is the opportunity to set the example and standard for how safety agencies should operate. If you betray that trust with your actions, or fail to report others who do, you are not long for this agency. It will not be tolerated, accepted, or ignored within our agency… We’re not choosing between treating people with respect and trying to improve public safety. We can do both. Two things can be true at once.”*

Hmm, I wonder, four in one day. How many will it take for them to see the correlation?

* Josh Tewalt, “Director’s Note 6.5.20”, idoc.idaho.gov

JUNE 10, 2020

Grievance Number: IM 200000280
Category: Conditions of Confinement

The problem is: December 2019 memo stating “all inmates in Administrative Segregation will be afforded three hours out-of-cell time daily… 1½ hours outside recreation and 1½ inside structured activities” hasn’t been honored one time, in part or in full–regarding out-of-cell time.

I suggest the following solution for the problem: Honor the memo, or what parts you can, and release a new memo with an acknowledgement/update.

LEVEL 1 — INITIAL RESPONSE by Sgt. Laing

I do not recall Inmate Irving #82431 stating this concern to me directly, but if he did he would have been informed that the policy is not completed at this time. Once it is completed we will start letting them out of their cells 3 hours a day and complying with policy. All inmates housed in B-Block that have inquired about the new step-up program or asked about the 3 hours out-of-cell time have been informed that the policy is not completed at this time. I recommend that Grievance IM200000280 be dismissed at this time, due to policy not being completed.

REVIEWING AUTHORITY RESPONSE: DENIED by Deputy Warden Gary Hartgrove

Inmate Irving 82431, your grievance IM 200000280 is denied. The newest revision of the Restricted Housing Order (RHO) being used by the Idaho Department of Correction shows an update of 5/5/2018. The updated RHO coincides with a new SOP for Short-Term Restrictive Housing. As of now, the new/updated Long-Term Restrictive Housing (LTRH) SOP has not been implemented. The same RHO is used for both Short- and Long-Term Restrictive Housing. The out of-cell time described in the memorandum will become effective after physical plant modifications are completed and staffing levels are addressed. Headquarters will then evaluate if the SOP will be implemented completely.

OFFENDER APPEAL

No plant modifications are needed to extend the outside rec–the cages already exist. The Department made indoor modifications to one tier to “pilot” dayroom access months ago, and then abandoned the effort immediately. The RHO update mentioned was done two years ago, and [it] mentions a LTRH policy 319.02.01.003 that is still not implemented. An excessive amount of time has passed without any substantial attempt to make progress. Additionally, we are now frequently refused rec due to staffing levels and 3rd Shift’s refusal to do rec moves, which they’ll be required to do should the Department ever seriously consider the offender out-of-cell time they’ve been discussing but not acting upon since 2018. Immediate action is requested–in part or in full–as well as a realistic plan and timeline that should be made available to offenders and their families.

APPELLATE AUTHORITY RESPONSE: DENIED by Warden Tyrell Davis

I have reviewed your grievance and find that I concur with the Level Two response. The out-of-cell time described in the memo will become effective after physical plant modifications are completed and staffing levels are addressed.

JANUARY 1, 2021

Policy Promises, Promises, Promises…

Last year IDOC announced residents in long-term restrictive-housing units (RHUs) would soon see three hours out-of-cell time daily (FAT!, Jan. ’20). Instead, the daily hour they were receiving found itself awkwardly reducing to half.

During July 2019’s board meeting, Director Tewalt announced plans for IMSI facility modifications that would support new standards outlined in the ever unattainable, unimplemented 2018 Long-term Restrictive Housing Program Policy 319.02.01.003*. The modifications — indoor rec modules, proposed and prototyped by an inmate — were to be constructed with cheap materials and inmate labor, offering a way for RHU residents to regularly access their day rooms.

Come early 2020, after breaking ground with the first of many modules, all visible progress came to a halt. Same with the chorus of excitement from hundreds of residents promised less time in the cell and more in the cage. According to RHU staffers, providing transport to the indoor rec modules was a matter of unforeseen logistical complexity: their understaffed shifts simply couldn’t find the time to rotate their pokey’s most popular patrons back and forth patiently between cell and kennel.

But with the day room only accounting for one-half of the new three-hour allotment, there was still another half to be offered outside: essentially, an extra half hour would be added to the daily hour already in practice. Logistically, this appeared to pose no problem: no extra trips were needed, nor staff required, and the rec modules outside were already in use. Nevertheless, the extra half hour was cancelled, and though a reason was given, it was hard to understand.

A grievance filed by this reporter was returned with an explanation stating that the Department was unwilling to allow the extra time outside until the indoor modifications were complete and the facility was properly staffed (FAT!, Aug. ’20). No timeframe was offered, no hope was given.

And then came COVID.

RHU shifts, once able to get everyone outside for at least an hour daily, found the only way to socially distance residents was to operate the rec cages at no more than half-capacity. So instead of directing shifts to account for the time it takes to responsibly rec a whole unit daily, IDOC divided their RHUs in half, and minimized rec for each half to every other day.

One hour. Out of the cell. Every other day. For the bulk of last year, that’s what’s been given.

In considering how the long-term restrictive housing policy was revised but never implemented back in July of ’18, there’s no telling how many more years might pass before the Department makes a respectable effort to meet the standards now sleeping on hold.

Which gives it all the feel of a marathon run that requires keeping pace with the Gears of Weak Intention.

One.

……..Hour.

…………Out of.

………………The cell.

……………………….Every.

………………………………Other.

…………………………………………Day……………….?………………–>………………………………!?!

*Unattainable yet referenced by Short-term Restrictive Housing Policy 319.02.01.001

Ref: Board of Correction Meeting, July ’19. “Exhausted Grievances in Summary, Grievance 15, IM 200000280

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

Grievance Number IM 210000080
Category: Conditions of Confinement

The problem is: Policy 319 (Restrictive Housing) requires “guidelines to ensure inmates placed in restrictive housing (short-term or long-term) for a period in excess of 15 days will have opportunities for three hours or more per day time spent out of their cell.” These guidelines were never established.

I suggest: Please establish the guidelines that Policy 319 mentions so that your facility residents know what they have to look forward to in the future.

LEVEL 1– INITIAL RESPONSE by Lt. Justin Gibney

In response to Policy 319, IMSI introduced our Ad-Seg reform program. Initially, IMSI introduced the use of programming chairs on the tiers. Residents were offered 1 hour out-of-cell time for recreation, as well as 1 hour in the programming chairs. However, this program was suspended shortly after its introduction, due to the increase of violent acts while they were in the programming chairs.

IMSI looked at several other options, including a table enclosure, on-the-tier enclosures, and the reintroduction of programming chairs. However, shortly after these were completed, IDOC, and the world, was affected by COVID-19.

IMSI is still committed to Ad-Seg reform. However, at this time we still have positive cases of COVID-19 in our institution, and we are unable to implement these changes. I do not have an answer on how long COVID-19 will impact our daily operations, or the future of IMSI.

LEVEL 2 — REVIEWING AUTHORITY RESPONSE by Captain Klinton Hust

Lt. Gibney is correct in his response. We are unable to accommodate this due to COVID-19 and practices that were put in place got people hurt rather than helped. Unfortunately the RHO states the time allotted, but we are unable to accommodate this right now.

OFFENDER APPEAL

Lt. Gibney states that only two hours out-of-cell time have ever been planned, yet the policy calls for three. A full year passed without mandate being put in place prior to covid ever entering Idaho. Where some enclosures were installed months before covid, they were never used, and there was time to install more. Covid simply does not excuse the full year pre-covid that IDOC failed to abide–the policy was publicly approved in March of 2019. Policies exist to establish the rules, not display they Department’s wishful thinking.

It should also be noted that this grievance intended to address the failure to provide reliable policy, not complain about Conditions of Confinement. That said, I consider myself at fault for the miscommunication and ask that this grievance finish its process in the category it started, with the understanding that my issue will need to be refiled in the future.

LEVEL 3 APPELLATE AUTHORITY RESPONSE by Warden Tyrell Davis

I have reviewed the grievance and concur with the Level One and Two responses. We are currently in the process of assessing and reviewing Policy 319 as an agency.

JUNE 29, 2021

After months of organizing donations to diversify our library, the library has rewarded me with a 90-day suspension. The reason, they say, is that a book I returned cannot be accounted for. Which makes it the librarian’s responsibility to punish this denizen already rotting in an unreformed Ad-Seg.

It doesn’t appear to matter that, in Ad-Seg, we can only return books through our food slots when they’re opened by staff to pass us our meals; apparently, we’re to be punished for things that staff misplace, as well as for any clerical errors made in and out of the library.

As just one example of a counterproductive discipline, this is perhaps the one that best helps to understand why some residents, when placed into Ad-Seg, literally occupy their time by painting the walls with shit.

Needless to say, I find myself affected, and not from the absence of materials to read. (I’m fortunate in that I just invested in books on prisons and programs, addictions and boundaries, etc. They’re my personal donations to the book drive I’ve been holding in an effort to improve our petulant library.) What affects me is the thought that a policy can be used to actively accelerate one’s mental deterioration .

I’m also bothered by the way these little things all add up, making it impossible to to build relationships of trust with those who wish to coexist, assist or implement change. Because why in the world would you ever offer your trust when all that you’ve been offered is indifference and hardship?

Or, as a prison doctor cited in C. Weinstein’s “Even Dogs Confined to Cages for Long Periods of Time Go Berserk” puts it:

“[I]t’s kind of like kicking and beating a dog and keeping it in a cage until it gets as crazy and vicious and wild as it can possibly get, and then one day you take it out into the middle of the streets of San Francisco or Boston and you open the cage and run away.” (Pg. 121)

AUGUST 1, 2021

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.

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Dear Deputy Warden Susan Wessels,

We are all very frustrated by the lack of effort you’ve been making when it comes to reviewing grievances and policies and answering questions. Though you have asked us to pursue our issues proactively, it seems as though the only effort you are making is to see that the lot of us feel we’ve been ignored.

We have been very clear in communicating that this a problem. And yet you insist on assuming an adversarial position and reiterating inaccuracies while wielding your power.

It is almost as if you believe you’re incapable of mistakes, and able to decipher our concerns without reading them as presented.

To show you precisely the way that this frustrates: Please click on this link to Policy 319.02.01.001. Pleeeeease, Susan. For the love of Christ and all that is holy! All you have to do is click! One miniscule movement! Minimal effort, Susan! Two seconds and you will see the problem we’ve identified and attempted to present to you several times before! Pages 14-21 don’t seem to exist! The link connects to idaho.gov! The policy is dated 2018. Where the **** have you been getting all your information from!?

Susan, please stop ignoring our efforts and put aside some time to review our concerns. I am a firm believer it would do us all some good.

OCTOBER 1, 2022

Almost a year since my time in the back and, though I’m no longer able to provide witness firsthand, what I can see by viewing IDOC policies is that the guidelines for Long-Term Restricted Housing have yet to be written, let alone implemented.

As for the lingering effects that are experienced by so many–why in the world would anyone seek to be treated by the same prison that placed them in long-lasting torment?

COVID NEWS

Since the start of COVID-19, the IDOC has administered over 79,000 tests to those of its clients it’s keeping in-state. More than 6,850 have been reported positive.

Visitation remains disrupted at one or more facilities. Please view the Department’s website for the most current updates.

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.

RELIGIOUS SERVICES DISRUPTED AT ALL IDOC FACILITIES

The IDOC’s contract with 3 Oaks Ministries for Volunteer and Religious Services came to an end on September 30, 2022. The change in volunteer and religious services from contractors to IDOC staff is expected to effect chapel services until a new Volunteer Religious Coordinator is hired. Those who require religious services and chapel access are encouraged to check with their Deputy Warden of Operations for updates.

This change will not affect residents’ ability to order religious items from Keefe.

We’re unable to report at this time whether 3 Oak Ministries will continue to provide services throughout facilities ran by the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections.

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 on parole.

From the Cathedral of St. John’s Evangelist in Boise, Deacon Mark Geraty joined Mr. Renick last month to discuss a new evangelism program called Alpha. Geared toward church-questioning folk not well versed on Christianity, the program aims to provide returning citizens with open arms right out of the gate. All are welcome to attend and enjoy a meal and a video before breaking into small groups to walk through their questions with Jesus. Please contact St. Vincent de Paul or St. John’s for details.

Visit svdpid.org for reentry resources and programs available in Southern Idaho.

RESIDENT AUDITING 101

May’s First Amend This! article “Keefe Confounds ‘Em with Tactical Match” incorrectly stated the wages for residents who work in Keefe’s warehouse. Per an amendment made to “Concession Services Agreement For Full Service Commissary Services And Account Management Services,” hourly wages have been raised to $2.50.

April’s requests for the following have yet to be filled:

      • Keefe sales volume reports for the weeks of 7-15-21 and 1-21-22
      • Notes, minutes and documents from the two commissary review committee meetings prior to 4-19-22, as well as all written requests submitted to the contract manager prior to these meetings.
      • Revenue payments made from Keefe to IDOC from March ’21 to March ’22.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE FOR INCARCERATED PERSONS

The Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative (JLI) is a movement of currently and formerly incarcerated jailhouse lawyers, law students, attorneys and community members who work together to practice legal empowerment and organize for change.

Though the JLI is unable to provide members with direct legal assistance, it is committed to distributing legal education resources that are co-created by members both inside and out.

Those interested in signing up for the JLI newsletter or receiving legal learning modules can write:

Tyler Walton, Esq.
Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative
Berstein Institute of Human Rights — NYU Law
139 MacDougal St, B23
New York, NY 10012

INMATE SERVICES AT WORK

9.18.22

Dear Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative,

Thank you for sending another effective learning module from your national Legal Empowerment and Practice Series. As a journalist who frequently requests public records to inform on operations from within my DOC, I was elated to discover the focus of this module is the power to be pulled the Freedom of Information Act. I found it a wonderful lesson that is sure to benefit many and I’m excited to hear the ways that others have been applying it.

The enclosed list was produced earlier this year, after I requested my DOC inform me of all cases they are currently litigating; I hope you’ll consider introducing your initiative to the plaintiffs still imprisoned. I suspect they’ll be excited to relay and participate in future efforts.

Cheers,
Patrick Irving

SUGGESTION BOX

I suggest the Department task the most generous of its visionaries with ensuring cough drops or throat lozenges are placed back onto commissary prior to the start of cold and flu season. I suggest this because even if Medical were willing to supply them, all sickness will have cycled long before the fixin’s reach us.

And that’s the Ad-Seg issue, folks! Thanks for tuning in, we’ll see you back next month.

But not before we throw a hearty shout-out from Will to Georgia! “Hope you’re having a good day, know that I’m thinking of you… XxxO”

“Georgia On My Mind”
— Ray Charles

Next: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Nov. ’22