Idaho State Correctional Institution

Idaho State Correctional Institution (ISCI) is an Idaho Department of Corrections state prison for men located in unincorporated Ada County, Idaho, near Kuna.^[1] It is one of a cluster of seven detention facilities known as the "South Boise Prison Complex". The other prisons in the area are the Correctional Alternative Placement Program, the Idaho State Correctional Center, the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, the South Boise Women's Correctional Center, the South Idaho Correctional Institution, and the South Idaho Correctional Institution-Community Work Center.

The facility is run by the for-profit firm CoreCivic, often referred to by its previous acronym of CCA.

In 2010 the FBI conducted an investigation of CCA practices following an incident at their prison in Idaho Correctional Center in which a prison inmate was beaten unconscious in an inmate attack. A video released by the Associated Press showed the incident underway as guards watched without taking action. Because the matter was under litigation, the company had said publicly that the release of the video is "an unnecessary security risk to our staff, the inmates entrusted to our care and ultimately to the public." CCA said it was cooperating with investigators.^[2]

In March 2010, the ACLU filed suit in federal court against CCA in Idaho, alleging that guards were not protecting inmates from other violent inmates.^[3] In February 2014, the federal judge hearing the case awarded $349,000 in attorney fees to the ACLU for its costs in bringing the action.^[4] A settlement was reached to correct conditions at the prisons run by CCA.

In November 2012, eight inmates filed a federal lawsuit in Idaho alleging that CCA prison officials partially ceded control of the Idaho Correctional Center to gang leaders. The lawsuit cited Idaho Department of Correction reports suggesting that the Aryan Knights and the Severely Violent Criminals were able to wrest control from staff members after prison officials began housing members of the same gangs together in some cell blocks to reduce violent clashes.^[5][6] In September 2013, a federal judge held CCA in contempt of court for persistently understaffing the Idaho Correctional Center in direct violation of a legal settlement.^[7] In October 2013, CCA was discouraged from bidding on a new contract to operate the Idaho Correctional Center. The state took back control and operations of its prison on July 1, 2014.^[8]

In May 2016 the company was again found in contempt of court for having failed to comply with a court order. The company had been assigning too few staff to the prison in order increase profits, they then lied on their official paperwork in order to appear to be in compliance.^[9]

ISCI is the oldest operating prison in the state, with a capacity of 1688 inmates. It also has special-use beds for infirmary, outpatient mental health and geriatric offenders. ISCI was opened in 1973, after serious riots in 1971 and 1973 destroyed much of the century-old Idaho State Penitentiary.

The institution is surrounded by a double fence, patrolled by sentry dogs. There also are seven towers to monitor perimeter security and offender movement. The compound includes a chapel, recreation center, school, large correctional industries operation and a medical clinic.

ISCI also hosts an Inmate Dog Alliance of Idaho program. This program takes dogs from the Humane Society, and places them with an inmate. The goal of the program is to rehabilitate the dogs, so they can be put up for adoption, as well as providing therapeutic advantages for the offenders.

In 1986, convicted felon Claude Dallas escaped from ISCI by walking out with a group of visitors. This escape spurred an almost year-long manhunt that ended in California.^[10]

References

Coordinates: 43°28′40″N 116°13′24″W / 43.477641°N 116.223385°W / 43.477641; -116.223385