Updates

Previous: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Aug. 2020 [Censored!!!]

Welcome to the September issue of First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter that addresses Idaho Corrections concerns.

Brought to you by The Captive Perspective and made available at bookofirving82431.com.

This publication provides an insider’s look at issues affecting the Idaho Department of Correction’s community. If you wish to assist this effort, share the link, cut and paste, or print and send a copy to another
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Our Mission: To better develop our current state of Corrections.

The Idaho Legislature shares our mission and welcomes your comments! Feel free to send them your thoughts, attached to a copy of this publication.
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EDITOR’S NOTE

If you missed August’s issue, censored for discussions on violence and sexual misconduct of staff, please be sure to check it out and voice your thoughts on social. Though WE don’t have a page, you can share the link on YOURS and show ALL your friends how to First Amend This!

They’ll dig it. Trust me. We’re hot in Korea.
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IDOC SIGNS CONTRACT WITH CORECIVIC FOR TWO PRIVATE PRISONS IN ARIZONA

On June 18 IDOC began transferring inmates from GEO Group’s Eagle Pass Correctional Facility in Texas to CoreCivic’s Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona. SCC is one of two Arizona facilities where IDOC has made arrangements to house offenders in effort to ease prison overcrowding in Idaho. The initial transfer of 148 inmates was the first of three to be completed by September 30, when IDOC’s contract with GEO Group expires.

Though not all the residents of EPCF will make their way to Arizona. Of the 620 Idahoans filling beds in Texas, 131 will be returned home for unspecified reasons. Those returning will then be exchanged for a much larger group that is to be divided between SCC and the Florence Correctional Center. IDOC has committed to paying $28.7M a year for either 11- or 1200 beds between the two facilities–depending on whether one’s asking IDOC or CoreCivic–with the option to extend the contract indefinitely.

CoreCivic, who previously did business as Corporate Corrections of America, is best known in Idaho for operating the Idaho Correctional Center (now ISCC) in such a way that drew scrutiny from the Associated Press, American Civil Liberties Union, FBI and Department of Justice (who declined to file charges) after claims of gross misconduct were reported in the facility fittingly dubbed by offenders as Gladiator School.

For that reason, offenders that find themselves transferred to SCC may take comfort in knowing that the Hawaiian Department of Public Safety has audited the facility twice a year since 2011, following the deaths of three Hawaiian offenders. Their oversight is significant as Arizona’s private prisons housing out-of-state populations are essentially unregulated, and IDOC’s Contract Monitors Tim Higgins and Monte Hansen took little interest in holding GEO to account prior to this reporter’s onslaught of complaints filed with the Texas Commission of Jail Standards.

Offenders matching any of the following criteria are eligible for transfer:

— Parole eligibility 2023 or after
— No escape charges
— Chronically and mentally ill
— Close Custody and STG
— SOs and violent crimes

Offender friends and families interested in receiving updates and networking their concerns are encouraged to join the Idaho Inmate Family Support Group on Facebook.

Facility and oversight information is as follows:

Saguaro Correctional Center
1250 East Arica Red.
Eloy, AZ 85131

SCC lies 60 miles southeast of Phoenix and currently holds 1200 offenders from Hawaii, 180 from Kansas and an unknown number from Nevada.

https://www.corecivic.com/facilities/saguaro-correctional-center

Florence Correctional Center
1100 Bowling Rd.
Florence, AZ 85132

https://www.corecivic.com/facilities/central-arizona-florence-correctional-complex

https://www.ice.gov/detention-facility/florence-correctional-center

State of Hawaii Department of Public Safety
919 Ala Moana Blvd., Fourth Floor
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

CoreCivic
10 Burton Hills Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37215

IDOC
1299 N. Orchard St, Ste. 110
Boise, ID 83706

Arizona Department of Corrections
1601 W. Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85007

Sources: IIFSG, Idaho Statesman, Prison Privatization and Arizona Law–American Friends Service Committee Arizona Area Program, Violations of Texas Minimum Jail Standards
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MORE CHANGES IN HOUSING

According to Jacob Scholl’s August 19th article in the Idaho Statesman, a 150-bed unit is soon to be added at ISCI. There are also plans to open a new community re-entry center for men in Twin Falls, along with talk of doing the same in Northern Idaho. And while another 150-bed expansion is being discussed for a St. Anthony work camp, talks continue for building a new 1200-bed facility in Idaho.

Meanwhile a few hundred people have been moved (primarily from ISCC) to the barracks at the Idaho Military Divisions Orchard Combat Training Center (OREX) 18 miles south of Boise, for reasons, IDOC says, to create safe zones and larger COVID units where symptomatic positives can cohort, thereby consolidating medical resources.
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COVID NEWS

Over 1,200 positives have now been reported between staff and inmates, with the majority considered to be inactive.

Eagle Pass Correctional Facility, recently reporting positive cases, has not shown a proportionate increase in negatives, which suggests that tests are now only being conducted on inmates that present as symptomatic.

As Warden Waymon Barry failed to autopsy the remains of at least one IDOC offender who died at his facility following an inadequate medical response, we have reason to suspect that he’s in no rush to conduct COVID testing in the final days of IDOC’s contract with GEO.

That the majority of EPCF’s population is housed in 8-man cells and crowded open dorms raises concerns that asymptomatic positives may accompany those transferred to the Arizona contract facilities, and endanger offender populations from three other DOC’s, as well as facility staff. IDOC will face the same risk when 131 EPCF residents return home.

Back in Idaho, overwhelming staff shortages have affected daily operations, to include: Facilities placed on secure status early in the evening, limited rec and programming, extended discontinuation of visits and volunteer services, and delays with commissary.

Mass testing is being conducted throughout the entire population and temperature checks have been scheduled once a day (presumably for everyone). Medical PPE masks have been distributed throughout all facilities, replacing the cloth coverings initially provided to offenders, who are required to wear them at all times when out of their cell. Open-dorm policies are unknown at this time.

IDOC has resumed transports from county jails across the state. COVID-positives will soon be processed in a new Receiving Diagnostic Unit at ISCC to make monitoring easier for medical staff.

COVID information has been and continues to be provided to offenders through JPay in an attempt to keep them educated on how to identify symptoms and prevent further spread of the virus.

Deputy Director Bree Derrick reminds staff to take advantage of the Employee Assistance Program should they find themselves in need of additional support.

For real-time IDOC coronavirus updates: https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/careers/covid-19
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ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP SUES IDOC

The Associated Press reports that the Snake River Waterkeeper has filed a federal lawsuit against the Department for allegedly violating the State’s wastewater permit more than 160 times in 2018 and 2019. The alleged violations are said to be a result of unspecified waste flowing from Cottonwood’s North Idaho Correctional Institution and reaching Lawyer Creek, the Clearwater River and the Snake River. Snake River Waterkeeper is asking that the court order the state to abide by its federal discharge permit and pay $55,800 per violation, for a total nearing $9M.
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IDOC POLICIES ON JPAY

The Department has worked with JPay to provide over 150 DOC policies to offenders on their JPay media devices, a move applauded by this publication. That most offenders will now be able to bypass the wait times previously associated with the papered requests the Department once required to view policies will help eliminate much confusion between facility residents and staff.

As the system is new, we expect additional policies will be added over time. Like 503.02.01.001 (Telephones and Electronic Communications), 150.01.01.006 (Staff Misconduct) and 114.03.03.024 (Funds, Inmate.)
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A LETTER FROM THE ACLU

[The following letter, sent to our Editor, has been paraphrased and formatted to fit the following presentation.]

Idaho’s public defender system has problems. In 2015, the ACLU and the law firm Hogan Lovells sued the State of Idaho because its public defender system does not ensure every person facing charges receives effective legal assistance, which, in effect, denies many people their rights. Their lawsuit requests the Court force Idaho to fix their broken system.

The problem is that Idaho’s public defenders do not have what they need, which makes it hard to spend enough time on every case to investigate, file motions, meet with clients and strategize the fight for each. The State created the Public Defense Commission in 2014, creating rules for how public defenders do their jobs, but this is not enough. The Sate must do more to fix the system.

The public defense lawsuit, a class action, applies to all facing charges with the potential for jail time or probation in Idaho state court while being unable to afford a lawyer. Those facing federal charges are not part of the class action. The State is not being asked to pay money to individuals.

Being part of the class action does not change one’s criminal lawyer. It may not affect the outcome of one’s case. Members of the class are not required to attend the lawsuit’s hearings. But they are required to attend hearings for their criminal case.

The lawsuit will not make criminal charges disappear, but it may change the way the public defense system works. If successful, the state will have to fix their public defense system. The judge will decide how that happens.

For those already sentenced, the case may offer no change. Those who have not been sentenced are encouraged to contact the ACLU if they are experiencing issues with the public defender system. They are asked not to discuss what they told their public defender or what their public defender told them. Those are confidential conversations and facts regarding the criminal case are unnecessary–please do not provide them.

If you contact the ACLU in regards to this lawsuit, be sure to write “CONFIDENTIAL- LEGAL MAIL” on both the letter and envelope before sending it to:

ACLU
PO Box 1897
Boise, ID 83701

Phone: 208.344.9759 ext. 1292
Fax: 208.344.7201
Email: admin@acluidaho.org

If you have already been sentenced and want to fight your conviction or sentence, you may want to contact:

Idaho State Appellate Public Defender
PO Box 2816
Boise, ID 83701

Telephone: 208.334.2712

For more information about this case:
https://www.acluidaho.org/en/cases/tucker-v-state-idaho
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EDITOR LOSES GRACEFULLY

Grievance: IM 200000301
Date: 6/23/20
Location: IMSI
Category: Complaint Against Staff

The problem is:
Brett Phillips continues to obstruct the same claim that resulted in Grievance IM 190000484. Previously, he held onto the claim for two weeks after the paralegal informed he could serve it. Now he insists on providing misinformation on how the court requires it delivered. Attached are several documents from the Clerk of the Court insisting the information Brett’s providing is wrong (see link below).

I have tried to solve this problem informally by:
Extended communications with the Clerk of the Court, Justice Department, attorneys general of Idaho, concern form, and [publicly documenting] the entire process in the “Excessive Use of Tort Series” @bookofirving82431.com.

I suggest the following solution for the problem:
Knock off your shenanigans and provide me with an address that will yield [Warden] Keith Yordy’s signature on certified mail–the way the clerk of the court requires in the letters I’ve provided you–or give me your blessing to source the problem myself.

LEVEL 1- INITIAL RESPONSE by Brett Phillips
(7/7/20)

Please note that before any “shenanigans” were undertaken, you failed to follow the initial direction provided to you via the February 20, 2020 concern form response by Warden Yordy: a response to your inquiry specifically regarding service of process, wherein he directed you to serve your small claims action on the Deputy Attorneys General assigned to the IDOC, in compliance with IDAPA 06.01.01, 106 (Service of Process on Department Employees). Furthermore, in my memo to you dated June 22, 2020, I reiterated the requirement of you to follow the process set forth in IDAPA 106, even going so far as to providing you with specific information on how to arrange for your small claims action to be served, which was provided to you previously by the Court in the Instructions on “How to Serve Your Small Claims Papers.” As a reminder, “if someone who is not the defendant signs the certified mail receipt, you have to serve the defendant again–using personal service.” For personal service you have the choice of three options: Pay the Ada Co. Sheriff’s Office, pay a professional process server or ask someone 18 years or older–not YOU–to serve the paperwork on the Deputy Attorneys General for the agency.

Additionally, in accordance with the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure, specifically, Rule 4(d)(4)(A), Service on the state and its agencies and governmental subdivisions: (A) State of Idaho–to serve the state of Idaho or any of its agencies, a party must deliver 2 copies of the summons and complaint to the Attorney General or any Assistant (Deputy) Attorney General (agent). Furthermore, Rule 4(d)(1)(C) Upon Whom Served [sic]: Delivering a copy of each to the agent (see) above authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process. In other words–Rule 4 or IDAPA 106.

Your request for [Warden] Keith Yordy’s personal address is denied. So, once again, please serve your small claims complaint on the Deputy Attorneys General assigned to the Idaho Department of Correction using one of the three (3) options listed above.

LEVEL 2–REVIEWING AUTHORITY RESPONSE by Susan Wessels

Grievance Disposition: Denied
Date: 7/20/20

Your grievance has been reviewed and I find:
Deny [sic]

Please see the explanation of the process to serve a small claims complaint as explained by the Level 1 Responder, Mr. Brett Phillips. Mr. Phillips description of the procedure details of the State of Idaho and Rules [sic]. This explanation is accurate and succinct.

OFFENDER APPEAL
7/24/20

Forgive my hesitance to accept legal instructions from the same people who claimed to deliver my notice of torts but didn’t, who tried to convince me filing limits don’t exist, and who [previously] obstructed my grievance for staff misconduct. I appreciate you providing me with rules 4(d)(4)(A) and 4(d)(1)(C) only 10 months after my initial request for [all] the information I [would need] to present my case. For clarification, as the cheapest option to serve the Department a small claim has failed to be executed per the Clerk of the Court, the State now suggests I pay another fee–to the Sheriff, as a form of insurance–to see my claim properly delivered. Do I understand this correctly? In the future, is it possible to just pay a similar form of insurance directly to the Department or GEO Group to ensure that my property reaches me untampered? Would that make it easier for you?

LEVEL 3–APPELLATE AUTHORITY RESPONSE by Tyrell Davis
8/9/20

I have reviewed the grievance and find that I concur with the level one response from Mr. Phillips.
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LETTERS TO PEN PALS

8-19-20

Dear Pen Pal,

Out of sight, out of mind…isn’t that the truth. I don’t know if it’s more disheartening watching people show little interest in voting for reform until they’re personally affected from the outside, or watching people show no interest in laying the groundwork for reform from the inside.

I believe it’s the letter you’ll receive today where I make mention of a business that offered people a platform to help themselves, which wasn’t enough, because they wanted the work done for them as well. There are, of course, in any population, a number of capable and/or motivated people. But there always seem to be more waiting for their coattails, feeling entitled to ride them at any given time. And I think that a lot of people are let down when they see examples of people given opportunities that turn into examples of how people waste them.

On packaging reform–I agree, the question is, Where do WE start?

Education and programming: Civics, rehab and compassion. Those are where I’d focus the foundation. Building excitement for civic responsibility reduces the need for advocacy assistance for those already incarcerated, and carries over to the community once the investment is active outside.

Rehab needs an overhaul completely, from training participants (not offenders) to seek assistance, to establishing more outlets for support and crisis prevention. Crisis intervention helps, but why are we (participants, families, friends, supervisors) even waiting the crisis to happen?

Compassion: We all need a lesson in that, and good-time credits would be one place to start. Rewarding effort while acknowledging circumstances isn’t unreasonable at all. Revamping pre-sentence investigation techniques is also must, as right now they contain too much quack science and confirmation-bias appears to be the rule–they’d get more accurate reads using 2020 tarot cards.

Also, when packaging, we need to package as investment: 1) If hiring prison guards is good for the community, why wouldn’t hiring support networks and lifestyle professionals that prevent the need for prison guards be awesome? 2) Prison guards are hired to contain human potential. They may as well be hired to prevent resource development. For every prison guard hired, we buy a dozen trash cans, to hold the investments they’re guarding as it’s people thrown away. When there is talk of a building prisons as an investment, more discourse needs to be centered around that.

…Or so goes my thinking in my outside rec kennel.

I hope that you have the most beautiful day.
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FIRST EVER FAT! AWARDS

Another journalistic group of relentless professionals has emerged in the Treasure Valley, inspiring us to present our very first FAT! Journalistic Integrity Award for their reporting on August’s gruesome discovery at Leaf Bugs Cereal, where actual bugs and leaves found in the cereal led to a factory closure. That this story was so closely followed by their discovery of a shoe-eating garden-variety woodpecker suggests nothing short of raw talent.

Congratulations, champions! Keep up the good work.
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Friends of First Amend This!

We’d like to recognize a few people, households and organizations that have either offered their aid directly or expressed their interest in making a difference. So, it’s in no particular order that we say thank you to:

Catholics 1
Christians 1
Native Americans 2
Muslims 1
Atheists 2
LGBTQ 4
Idaho Senators R 1 D 1
Idaho Congresswomen R1 D 1
Marxists 1
Anarchists 1
Idaho Lt. Governors 1
Buddhists 1
Civil Liberty Protectors 3
Misc. Advocacy Groups 7
Books to Prisoners 7
Media Misfits 4
Professional Psychologists 1

And thank you, again, Loyal Reader, for continuing to tune in.

Amen.
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MSG FROM IDOC – SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE

On September 1, 2020 the IDOC will enable phone call services to the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline. Your safety and well-being are important, so this service is being provided as an alternative resource if you find yourself in crisis. IDOC and Corizon staff are always available to assist you.

Number: 208-398-4357
Speed Dial: 852

Hours of Operation: Inmates have access to the inmate phone system when telephone services are available according to each facilities operational schedule.

Cost: Free
Duration: Max of 30 minutes per call

NOTICE: ALL PHONE CALLS ARE RECORDED AND MAY BE MONITORED. Calls to the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline are automatically reported to IDOC. If it is determined that follow-up is required, you will be contacted by staff to ensure your safety and wellbeing.

Prank or nuisance calls to the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline may result in sanctions and other disciplinary procedures.
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COMPLIMENTS TO STAFF

Thank you Deputy Director Bree Derrick and Chief of Staff Christine Starr for referring to your prison population as Facility Residents during your guest spots in the Director’s Note’s this last month. Not referring to them as Offenders or Inmates caught our attention.

Captain Hust, you’re suspected of doing a good job too. You better knock it off.
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And that’s a word-up, everybody. Welcome to September.

“Hip Hop Hooray”
— Naughty By Nature

Next: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Oct. 2020

Dear Pen Pal,

Will you be voting early? By mail? Doing any legwork?

I’m glad to be where I’m at for the election. I could hardly stand the things said around me during the last one. I’ve grown more tolerant with political differences, and the lines that draw my preferences have become much more obscure. I simply wish that we rotated more parties, or maybe leader-swapped with Europe once in a while to make a different reality TV show.

I have a very loved friend that can talk about aliens running the government, liberal child-trafficking rings and the Apocalypse in the same breath that he proposes our current leader, appointed by God, is fixing everything wrong with this world — everything, of course, except all of that.

I love the idea of different flavors in office. And I wish we had a wider spectrum of women, too. I don’t understand why we can’t educate and take care of each other, and I wish the lines weren’t so murky when it comes to hate and speech.

I’m for people’s ability to be as weird as they want to, but also for respecting people’s need to not. I can’t imagine imposing my beliefs on anyone, but I think not everyone is capable of being socially conscious, and shouldn’t be penalized for living how they want.

And then there’s the part of me that sees an invasive organism ruining homeostasis, and would tell an algorithm to save the earth at all costs. So there’s a lot of conflict for me between being human and being responsible, and between letting some enjoy freedom or offering life for all.

In any case, the constant is change, and the laws of organization require chaos to evolve. I mention all this because you offered me a glimpse of how you’ll be voting–and I think that exercising your right to vote certainly rocks.

Also, I enjoy these little conversations…

Hope you’re having a wonderful day,
Patrick

Previous: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, July 2020

A horrific scene of violence unfolded this morning at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution. Multiple members of staff woke the residents of Ad-Seg Unit B2 around 2:30am in what so far has only been described as a seriously savage beating, when approximately six correctional officers responding to what purportedly began as a medical emergency started using copious amounts of force on one offender in the day room, already restrained in shackles.

“They started on his legs while trying to hogtie him. Then they moved up his back. They were even dropping elbows on his head,” says one who watched from his window, just a few feet away. A statement now confirmed by several others, who suggest the duration of the beating to have spanned 15 minutes.

The staff responding didn’t appear to be an extraction team, which IDOC generally activates when subduing problem individuals. Activation teams are required to document with cameras video footage of every incident they respond to.

None of the staff who responded were seen carrying a camera. Fortunately, as reported in our January Issue of FAT!, brand new cameras were installed in this unit recently, meaning there should be no reason for proper video footage to be unavailable.

However, whether IDOC will allow access to this footage is questionable, as at least one offender who tried alerting his family of the incident this morning is reporting his message has been confiscated, for reasons yet to be known.

A copy of this JPay communique has been placed in Legal Mail and addressed to the ACLU, to ensure that it will be made publicly availabe regardless of any interference that gets in the way.

15:52 7-17-20

Next: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Aug. 2020 [Censored!!!]

7-3-20 16:30

As reported in July’s issue of First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, an inmate at the Idaho State Correctional Center tested positive June 24. KBOI News is now reporting that, of the bulk testing that has taken place since at this facility, 119 inmates and 36 staff are now testing positive for COVID-19.

The following July 2 update from the Director to Offenders provides further information:

07/02/2020

Hi all-

I know its a tough time for many of you right now as it is for your friends and loved ones on the outside. I wanted to give you an update on where we stand as it relates to COVID. I received some correspondence from a gentleman in custody yesterday that really helped me understand how the lack of information can increase tension and fear. So in addition to telling you where we are with things, I’m also going to do my best to explain the why behind it.

…We’ve done mass testing events in E block and H block at ISCC. We should have the E block results [7-2]. I want to share with you what we’ve learned from other systems who have battled COVID at the onset of the pandemic. Its widely believed that in the public at large, significantly more COVID positive cases exist where people never develop symptoms or experience complications. The way testing is prioritized in the community, it is extremely difficult to ever get tested if you don’t have symptoms. For our system, we’re going to keep testing as many people as possible to try to identify everyone who is positive, regardless of symptoms. That means we expect to have a high number of people test positive for COVID that would never have even felt the need to get tested in the community.

Here’s why that’s important: we have to identify positives so we can do contact tracing to identify people who might have had close contact with those positive individuals. Then we quarantine and keep testing. The strategy for battling COVID in the community is the same as it is in prison: Test, Trace and Quarantine.

We’re going to continue mass testing at ISCC then move to other facilities in the S. Boise Complex as appropriate. We also are going to conduct mass testing events for IDOC staff who work at the S. Boise Complex.

S. Boise Complex in Secure Status:As of yesterday morning, the entire S. Boise Complex was placed on secure status. If you’re in the S. Boise Complex, I’m guessing you have a good idea by now of what that means everything but basic necessities is shut down and movement is extremely limited except in the case of emergencies. This isn’t being done to punish anyone. Its being done to offer more protection against transmitting the virus. Our contact tracing at ISCC demonstrated how even limited and controlled movement can allow for the virus to spread to other areas of the prison before anyone develops symptoms.

There are few things I dislike more than having to order facilities into full secure status because I know how disruptive it is for you. I know how much worry it causes your loved ones on the outside. And even though it isn’t intended to be, I know it has to feel like you’re being punished. That isn’t why I did it. Instead of waiting for a positive case to be identified elsewhere in the S. Boise Complex, we decided to make this move proactively to better prevent an outbreak or contain one.

Cohorting Staff:When we implement a quarantine for a period of time, we do it in groups known as cohorts. Doing it like that means that if you introduce a new person to the group, you have to start the clock over. While the units that aren’t under medical quarantine aren’t in a true quarantine, we are going to introduce a similar concept by cohorting staff with specific units. Starting this Sunday, all facilities in the S. Boise Complex will be moving to 12 hour shifts, and staff will only be allowed to work specific units unless there’s an emergency. This is an additional safeguard for you and them. Again, the objective is to keep units as closed and contained as possible until we know the coast is clear. That means minimizing staff coming and going from multiple units on a shift.

Secure Status v. Medical Quarantine: I also wanted to take a second to clear up what I mean when I say secure status versus medical quarantine. There isn’t a huge difference between the two. As noted before, secure status means everyone is required to stay in their cell or living area. The same is true for a medical quarantine. The difference is that a medical quarantine is triggered by a potential or positive case. The idea is to do enhanced medical checks on everyone in medical quarantine for a period of time while you check to see if anyone else develops symptoms. While on secure status in the S. Boise Complex, we’re going to adopt a hybrid approach even for areas that aren’t on medical quarantine. All people incarcerated in the S. Boise Complex will have their temperatures taken daily. We’ve had two instances already of people who developed symptoms but chose not to come forward because they didn’t want to be quarantined. That way of thinking puts everyone, including the individuals with symptoms, at far greater risk. Please let someone know if you are experiencing any symptoms associated with COVID-19.

This is a scary time for a lot of people, my staff included. Here;s what I’d ask of you: please be patient with us. You’re going through a lot of change and uncertainty right now, and so are the staff you see every day. I know your daily life has seen disruption after disruption since the middle of March, especially with visiting and volunteer services being suspended. I can promise you were likely to have some problems in the first little while of secure status and were going to have to figure out some ways to fix things. I promise you we will. Our first order of business is to provide the necessities and keep you safe, and prisons leadership is looking for ways to ease the burden for you and our staff during this unprecedented operating period.

I know it’s easy in a time like this to feel a little helpless to protect yourself from a disease that you can’t see. You’re not. In fact, you’re still your first and best line of defense. Always practice good hygiene. Where you can, keep appropriate physical distance between you and others, and wear a mask when you can’t.

Take care of yourself, and please look out for each other.

Thanks-
Josh

Previous: First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter, Jun. 2020

Welcome to the July issue of First Amend This!: An IDOC Newsletter that addresses Idaho Corrections concerns.

Brought to you by The Captive Perspective and made available at bookofirving82431.com.

This publication provides an insider’s look at issues affecting the Idaho Department of Correction’s community. If you wish to assist this effort, share the link, cut and paste, or print and send a copy to another
…

Our Mission: To better develop our current state of Corrections.

The Idaho Legislature shares our mission and welcomes your comments! Feel free to send them your thoughts, attached to a copy of this publication.
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AMONG THE BLOOD UNMENTIONED IN JUNE:

Four separate trails, in front of my cell, from upstairs to down-, one for each owner. And collecting in a puddle, the source slammed facedown, wrists and ankles already restrained, to be broken-nose subdued — as if several minutes of gassing just didn’t take.

I watched the puddle form feet away from the cages, where we view videos and messages once a week from our loved ones — for those of us lucky enough to have them, but unable to afford the device that lets them frequent their love.

Twice the distance from the puddle to the cages — really just a few feet more — the desks, used to hang shackles and taunt us, with socialization and programs they continue to withhold.

It’s the first cell extraction I’ve witnessed in Solitary Confinement, despite having been discarded with the others for going on eight months. While choking on the gas that punishes the whole unit — somehow still considered a solution for subduing individuals — I grab my notebook and calendar, and attempt to extract the correlation of seeing four at once:

11 Months ago — Director Josh Tewalt commended Chief Chad Page and Warden Keith Yordy for moving forward with ideas of inside enclosures, modified programming chairs, and table enclosures for Restricted Housing Units (Board of Correction Meeting, 7-16-19). These ideas have yet to be used.

7 months ago — FAT! wrote the Office of Professional Standards to ask that offender complaints be considered when submitted directly to them, as some staff have responded to grievances after investigating themselves (December issue). No reply from the office was given.

6 months ago — Warden Yordy promoted a memo stating 1.5 hours of outside rec and 1.5 hours indoor day-room time would be upcoming daily, with more new program opportunities to look forward to (January issue). Today: RHU receives only one hour out-of-cell time in outdoor cages, daily — but only on the days they actually rec (count 25 days of facility rec refusal since November). Nothing in the memo appears to be true.

3 months ago — IDOC stopped all in-person contact with family and approved lists of visitors due to COVID-19.

3 weeks ago — I overheard Captain Hust tell one of the offenders now bleeding, who was then still using words to communicate a conflict he had with the staff, “Well, then it’s up to you to be the adult,” as though state employees aren’t expected of the same, regardless of the fact that they’re being tax-paid.

1 week ago — they started heavily enforcing the one hour of phone time Restricted Housing offenders are “privileged” to have once a week. (Staff sympathetic to the benefits of human communication must enforce the policy strictly, as familial love is a hazard in the extra minute or few. Meanwhile, staff are seldom reprimanded for ignoring policies that benefit offenders or pertain to themselves.)

12 hours ago — we received a memo describing the privilege we’re given to combat excessive heat once every 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” (Lieutenant Tamez 6-5-20).

12 hours ago — we were instructed in another memo that, from now on, if we attempt to bring our morning cup of coffee and magazine to the outside rec cages, they’ll note it as “a refusal to participate in recreation for the day” (B-Block Unit Sergeant 6-5-20).

As I’m writing — I’m listening to my neighbor choke and gasp and beg to be rolled on his side to assist his breathing, while Director Tewalt and his keyboard are typing up this:

“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 dignity and respect or trying to improve public safety. We can do both.” (Director’s Notes, 6-5-20).

Hmm, I wonder, four in one day…how many will it take to see the correlation?

[Recommended reading for Director Tewalt: “Exhausted Grievances in Summary (for legal and investigative purpose)” @ bookofirving82431.com]
…

COVID PRISON NEWS CENSORED OVER JPAY

On June 16 FAT! received a censorship notification from IDOC’s Nathan Roe B490, who stated that a JPay correspondence was refused “in accordance with SOP 503.02.01.01…Contents: Information about another offender.” The correspondence in question? a June 15 Charles P. Pierce article in Esquire discussing a COVID-19 inmate death in a privately-run prison.

While IDOC currently contracts a large portion of their low-risk, minimum- to medium-security inmate population to the private prison company GEO Group — on the Tex-Mex border and the deadly Rio Grande — IDOC hasn’t mentioned any COVID-related deaths in this month’s updates from the Director.

But they have censored unflattering news coverage previously — of a press-filed lawsuit for public records access to Director Tewalt’s questionable purchase of lethal injection drugs in 2012.

My Concern Form’s return completes the very first stage of the grievance process. In his response, Mr. Roe suggests “you can not get any information about any offender in or out of the state.” Which is to say that the entire IDOC Law Library is guilty of trafficking in outdated case-law contraband, and now we’re liable to be punished for seeking updated precedents regarding matters already filed or those we wish to litigate: to include matters resulting from violations against offenders done by staff and State.

Whether his is an innocent misinterpretation of policy, or he’s correct in assuming that IDOC wishes to censor the majority of articles presenting prison news, will have to be answered by the grievance process — to which, thankfully, First Amend This! has access.

Still, one wonders: Will IDOC inmates be motivated if they hear about inmate lawsuits resulting from COVID-19? Will Cosby be safe if we read the progress of his case? Is it possible I’m the guy that put the hit on Epstein? Just how high up does the censorship order go? Is Governor Little trying to prevent us from witnessing presidential pardons, despite the fact that he deems us unworthy to vote?

Unfortunately these are all questions that we’ll have to conclude on our own. Unless, maybe, we do a little work together — and look down below…
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OFFENDERS FILE LAWSUIT AT IDAHO’S LARGEST PRISON OVER COVID-19 CONCERNS

Just one month before IDOC’s motion to terminate the class-action Balla lawsuit — brought over inhumane treatment and conditions at Idaho State Correctional Institution in 1984 — was granted by the courts, inmates at the Idaho State Correctional Center filed their own lawsuit alleging cruel and unusual punishment.

Reportedly two cell blocks originally meant to house 504 people are now being operated at 320 overcapacity, making even their toilet sanitation too much to maintain. Among other offender concerns mentioned: the inability to protect themselves from COVID-19, and less opportunities to rec due to facility under-staffing.

IDOC employees have acknowledged the overcrowding with the casual mention that more beds are needed. The Office of Performance Evaluations concurs, as our Idaho inmates continue to be trafficked back and forth to other states.

Still not discussed: More responsible management and correctional overhauls known to benefit other states.

IDOC’s first case of COVID-19 among the offender population was reported June 24 at ISCC. The inmate was immediately placed in isolation. As this issue goes to press, the extent of the spread is unknown.
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CONFISCATED MAIL SYSTEM: BROKE AND UNDELIVERED

July marks the fourth month of confiscated mail going lost or undelivered.

With every mail parcel that’s for any reason confiscated, offenders are given a form with the option to destroy or send it out. While the forms are then suppose to be returned to and processed by the receiving facility’s Property, IMSI’s have been venturing into the Great Unknown.

Since March this Editor has had four parcels confiscated, for reasons stated to be blemishes or stains. Two of these parcels contained personal letters (one with decades-old pictures, nostalgic in value) and the other two, issues of FAT!, sent from my family to me.

Of the four confiscated in March and early April: one remains lost, one was processed properly, one took five weeks to forward, and the other took ten — and was sent to New Jersey with instructions for Idaho, in an accumulation of events that falls nothing short of strange:

A withdrawal request (common for postage) was removed from a postage order that was dated months later, from an unrelated parcel addressed to the Courts. That parcel then mysteriously returned without the form attached, and with a sticker on it stating postage was needed. The now-missing form was then used on the fourth confiscated parcel, which was being presented as one of two examples listed in a formal complaint. Two weeks later the same missing form re-appeared as a receipt for three-times the withdrawal amount I had given consent. Thus it’s suspected that someone commandeered the form, which would have been dated recent enough to invalidate the status of “longstanding” in my complaint. However the culpritive effort failed to use the Idaho address specified when the confiscation notice was returned with the original postage order form from April. Which allows us to conclude these results on our own.

Of the three parcels tracked, two were verified as containing no noticeable blemishes or stains when viewed by final recipients. The third, sent to the Idaho Press Club for third-party documentation, wasn’t followed-up on. The fourth parcel, perhaps the most valuable, the one containing pictures of  friendship in an innocent youth, initially received March 31, still hasn’t surfaced after months of many queries.

So who’s responsible?

While confiscated mail sits in the property room at the receiving facility until its time has expired or it’s received offender instructions, and while Cpl. Herrera has been designated to handle IMSI’s confiscated mail, she shouldn’t be alone as we focus our blame. At least 15 communications — written and verbal, delivered to multiple members of staff — have not received a response. In fact, the third parcel was only sent in a rush (explaining the wrong address) the week my unusual plea to avoid grieving the issue was received.

In said plea, I asked the Property room to consider how they would feel not knowing their sister had given birth, their grandma had died, or worse — was about to die and could use a message of faith.

It shouldn’t be lost upon anyone that there’s still a pandemic. And though correctional officers thumbs-up us everyday through our steel doors and windows, seldom do they view us as being kept in modern dungeons. Perhaps they’re ensuring Grandma’s last goodbye would serve to help us humanize them, too.
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WHY IDOC QUIT CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH

Nobody seems to know. Though many still remember the holiday meal served with sausage, cornbread, watermelon, and black-eyed peas, none can say for certain why it disappeared.

This reporter recalls the festive atmosphere at then-Idaho Correctional Center in 2007, when a large population of White and Hispanic inmates shared in celebration with the comparably smaller demographic of their African-American counterparts.

IDOC has yet to respond to the question of why we no longer celebrate slave liberation at the time this issue is sent to press.
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IDOC ADMINISTERS DISCIPLINE WITH PSYCHIC TECHNIQUES

Preponderance of evidence and evidentiary threshold? Ain’t nobody got time for that. But only according to Jack Fraser and the IDOC. Since this was stated in a memo back in ’19 June (yes, we possess it), we’ve watched Investigations adopt the most mysterious techniques. For instance, if two offenders on camera are seen exchanging swings, the newly employed training goes something like this:

1) Run the cameras back and count how many times unrelated offenders visit other unrelated offenders — and forget the fact those visited are still in their cage…because the behavioral patterns of one in social deprivation is the same you’ll see with any kind of dog: Let them off the leash and they turn into social monsters, conspiring about an incident in a way you’ll Make Believe.

2) If you have no audio, and you won’t, interpret any waves, handshakes or general sharing of proximity with the methods used in our handbook “How To Read Brains.” That it’s we who house them without the ability to distance from each other doesn’t make them non-complicit with any crime we deem.

Examples: If an offender holding a birthday card is matching cell counts to signatures, the intent is obviously murder, and he deserves a cage in the back, for life, immediately. If any offenders watch a fight, they too have conspired, and should be used as fodder to overflow high-security prisons until you get approved for another $500,000,000. Which you can bet your ass you’ll be sure to need — because when your little psychic presentations are taken seriously by the Parole Board, they’ll issue a thousand more years of incarceration for every small town’s worth of individuals. And when civil suits come from the deprivation of freedom resulting… Yeah, you’re definitely gonna need every fucking cent.

Remember: You don’t need hard evidence to be sadistic or an asshole. And we’ll fight any public records requests that prove it forever and a day.

Now remove your tinfoil hats, go fourth and conquer, and most of all, remember: Ms. Warwick no longer does credit, but cash will be okay.
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EXHAUSTED POLICY GRIEVANCE IN SUMMARY

Date: 3-19-2020
Location: IMSI
Number: 200000159
Responders: Baerlocker, Hartgrove, Unidentified
Status: Granted, Modified

Notes: Policies weren’t being provided in a timely manner and copies of their requests weren’t being returned for offender documentation. Issues were acknowledged, corrected and appreciated. IMSI offenders are now “required to request policies with a concern form and will need to address them to the unit policy officers. The receiving officers will then be required to fill out the concern form and return it to the requesting inmate” (5-19-20).

IMSI has yet to issue a memo to offenders notifying them of such.
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A LESSON IN DIALOGUE FROM LIEUTENANT TAMEZ

Offender Concern 6-18
To: Housing Lt. Tomez

ISSUE/CONCERN: Volunteers were required to miss rec today, so that 2nd Shift could get everyone out in one move and avoid refusing half our unit their outside time. As it gets nicer out, more people will be going outside. We’re told 3rd Shift will take no responsibility in providing us what little rec we’re suppose to get. Are our units to expect that you’ll be refusing groups of us rec daily, or will you commit your staff to working a reasonable solution that doesn’t require volunteers to sacrifice their individual rec time to assist a larger group in receiving theirs?

REPLY: Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will follow up with B-Block staff.

Thank YOU, Lt. Tamez, for the response to our concerns.
…

AND: AN ATTEMPT FOR DIALOGUE FROM FAT!

Director Tewalt,

I always appreciate reading your notes. You appear thoughtful in a way that I’m sure comforts others. But I grow more disappointed the more you’re unresponsive to every invitation for discourse we extend. My mom reads your updates. As a Christian she wants to believe in the best of folks. But as a witness to reality, what’s she to do?

Included are the materials I’ve submitted to a jury of your peers. Maybe one will suggest to you a thoughtful response, and with dialogue, together, we’ll moved forward from there.

On behalf of all inmates of whose care you’re responsible…

And with my sincerest regards,
Patrick Irving 82431
IMSI
PO Box 51
Boise, ID 83707
…

[Editor’s note: I have never caught a rainbow.]

“For What It’s Worth”
— Buffalo Springfield

Next: First Amend This! Bulletin: Staff Assault Inmate At IMSI 7.17.20

OFFENDER CONCERN FORM

6-21-20
To: Brett Phillips
From: Irving 82431

Previously, you intercepted a court claim being served to Warden Yordy, sat on it until he retired, and then returned it, unserved, with a message to deliver it to someone else. Now possessing communications from the Court stating Yordy must be served directly, despite IDAPA 06.01.01 #106, your actions have been realized as obstruction. I now require Yordy’s home address to serve him as needed, per the Court. As IDOC offenders are discouraged from researching staff, I request you provide me with his info, express permission for me to resource it myself, or acknowledge your complete refusal in allowing me to serve this claim. This is the 5th time IDOC has obstructed this claim and the 2nd attempt to have this Concern Form signed in accordance with 316.02.01.001.
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IDAHO MAXIMUM SECURITY INSTITUTION MEMORANDUM

Date: June 22, 2020
To: Patrick Irving #82431
Unit: B-2 / 54

From: Brett Phillips
Management Assistant
Office of the Warden

RE: Response to your concern(s) received 6-22-20

In response to the two (2) separate concerns you addressed to my attention dated 6-20-20 [and] 6-21-20, I feel it necessary to provide you with a detailed explanation of your predicament. To help illustrate your inability to follow the basic “service of process” instructions and direction provided to you, I’m attaching two documents I hope will move your previously filed small claims matter into court.

On February 20, 2020, then Warden Yordy responded to your concern regarding “service” inquiry. In his response he clearly directed you to send your small claims filing to the Deputy Attorneys General who represent the IDOC and its employees. [His] response comports with the IDAPA Rule you referenced in your latest concern. For your convenience, I’ve attached a highlighted section 106 of IDAPA 06.01.01– Service of Process on Department Employees. As with Warden Yordy’s response to you, Rule 106 clearly directs anyone wishing to serve a complaint, summons or subpoena regarding any action related to the Department or its employee(s) “to be made upon the Deputy Attorneys General who represent the department in a manner and form required by state and federal procedure.” I’m guessing from the narrative you provide in the two concerns you sent, you failed to serve Warden Yordy in compliance with the state rules of procedure? You had/have several options available to you: Employ the services of the Ada County Sherrif’s Office — Civil Division, hire the services [of] a private process server, reach out to any person over the age of 18 — who is not a party to your claim to effect service on your behalf. Additionally, you could have paid a nominal fee to the Clerk of the Court to serve your complaint directly via certified mail. IDOC staff are NOT process servers, and you are prohibited by IDAPA 06.01.01 from directly serving any IDOC staff your filed complaint.

I suggest you review that attached information and reevaluate [your] service situation.

BP/bp
…

IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION
Grievance/Appeal form

Inmate: Irving 82431
Date: 6-22-20

The problem is: Brett Phillips continues to obstruct the same claim that resulted in a previous grievance, IM 190000484. Previously, he held onto the claim for two weeks after the paralegal informed he could serve it. Now he insists on providing misinformation on how the court requires it delivered: Attached are several documents from the Clerk of the Court insisting the information Brett’s providing is wrong.

I have tried to solve this problem informally by: Extended communications with the Clerk of the Court, Justice Department, Attorneys General of Idaho, concern form, and the public documentation of the entire process in “The Excessive Use of Tort Series” @ bookofirving82431.com

I suggest the following solution for the problem: Knock off your shenanigans and provide me with an address that will yield Keith Yordy’s signature on Certified Mail, the way the Clerk of the Court requires it, or give me your blessing to source the problem myself.
…

6-22-20

Dear Chief Page:

Brett Phillips now insists on hurling insults at me and my “inability to follow the basic ‘service of process’ instructions provided to [me]” (Memo 6-22-20), despite these communications from the Clerk of the Court I’ve attached stating the instructions he’s providing me are wrong.

As a Business major who held a 4.0 until boredom insisted I entertain with other things . . . what was I saying, again? Just kidding, I’ll remember this forever.

Regard,
Patrick Irving 82431
IMSI
PO Box 51
Boise, ID 83707