Tag Archives: Idaho

Idaho citizen files $1.5 million wrongful arrest suit against local appointed body

Speaking up in a public meeting should result in violations of someone’s rights under the First (“peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”), Fifth (“nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”), or Eighth (“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”) Amendments. Anti-fracking activist Alma Hasse is seeking legal redress. This could be a nationwide trend, with one local bully apologizing to Nydia Tisdale to avoid jail in Forsyth County, Georgia, after settling for $200,000 for being ejected from the Cummings, Georgia City Council for videoing. Nydia hasn’t filed charges yet for the case of the six missing screams, in which she was forcibly ejected from a public campaign event headlined by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal for videoing. Maybe if you advertise a public meeting, you can’t throw someone out for videoing, and you can’t arrest somebody for speaking up in public government meeting.

Alma Hasse was arrested for Continue reading →

Idaho fractivist ejected from jail on own recognizance

Arrested for standing silently in the back of a public meeting, Alma Hasse refused to cooperate with booking or to eat, instead helping prisoners with grievances. After a week, the Payette County, Idaho jail ejected her on her own recognizance with no bail. She says they still plan to charge her with something. Meanwhile, she’s back to filing open records requests, presumably about the Planning and Zoning Commission that had her arrested and that has a record of not divulging information even in response to FOIA requests. I smell a lawsuit, and not by P&Z. Maybe they should have gone to the VDT’s Open Government Symposium in Macon Friday. Maybe some of our local elected and appointed officials have learned that this isn’t the answer:

So it’s just if you disagree you’re disruptive.

Alma Hasse’s husband Jim wrote on her facebook page 16 October 2014, Alma is FREE!!!! PLEASE SHARE!!, Continue reading →

County Planning Commission arrests citizen for speaking in public hearing

The Payette County, Idaho Planning and Zoning Commission accused somebody of having previously provided false information and had her arrested for responding in a public hearing to a direct accusation by name. It appears that it was a Commissioner’s information that was misleading, and the same Commission has a history of not revealing relevant information even in response to an open records request. There is video of the Thursday event. She is still being held in jail, and permitted no outside communication.

Jerry Nelson wrote for Epoch Times 12 October 2014, Alma Hasse, Idaho Fractivist, Arrested in Public Meeting, Continue reading →

FBI investigating CCA about Gladiator School again

Indefatigable reporter gets FBI to investigate profiteering private prison company: again. CCA already lost the contract for Idaho State Prison and two other CCA prisons have closed. Maybe this time the FBI will shut CCA down.

Rebecca Boone wrote for AP yesterday, APNewsBreak: FBI investigates prison company,

The FBI has launched an investigation of the Corrections Corporation of America over the company’s running of an Idaho prison with a reputation so violent that inmates dubbed it “Gladiator School.”

The Nashville, Tenn.-based CCA has operated Idaho’s largest prison for more than a decade, but last year, CCA officials acknowledged it had understaffed the Idaho Correctional Center by thousands of hours in violation of the state contract. CCA also said employees falsified reports to cover up the vacancies. The announcement came after an Associated Press investigation showed CCA sometimes listed guards as working 48 hours straight to meet minimum staffing requirements.

The Idaho State Police was asked to investigate the company last year but didn’t, until Continue reading →

CCA in contempt of court for understaffing Gladiator School in Idaho

CCA wouldn’t even turn in a correct count of its guards at its most notorious prison.

Rebecca Boone wrote for AP today, Judge: CCA in contempt for prison understaffing,

“For CCA staff to lie on so basic a point — whether an officer is actually at a post — leaves the Court with serious concerns about compliance in other respects, such as whether every violent incident is reported.”

More here from George Prentice in Boise Weekly, including the actual court decision and order.

Remember, this is the company our Industrial Authority wanted to build a prison in Lowndes County. Let’s insist on real due diligence.

-jsq

Gladiator School cancelled; 2 other CCA prisons closed

CCA loses contracts, including for its notorious Gladiator School; GEO, too. Some states are catching on to the private prison scam.

Aviva Shen wrote for ThinkProgress 21 June 2013, Three States Dump Major Private Prison Company In One Month,

State lawmakers who embraced private prisons as a cost-cutting measure are starting to have trouble ignoring their abysmal conditions. Corrections Corporation of America, the largest and most powerful private prison company in the nation, lost four prison contracts in the past month after extensive reports of abuse, neglect, and even fraud within their operations.

Idaho cut ties with the corporation on Wednesday, which turned the state’s largest prison into a violent hellhole inmates called “Gladiator School.” Earlier this year, CCA was caught understaffing the prison and using prison gangs to control the population. The company admitted to falsifying nearly 4,800 hours of staffing records to squeeze more money out of the state for nonexistent security work. Shift logs at the prison showed the same security guards working for 2 to 3 days at a time without breaks.

Last week, Texas closed two CCA prisons, including Continue reading →

Do we want a Gladiator School prison in Lowndes County?

Remember FBI investigating CCA “Gladiator School”, the CCA-run private prison in Idaho the FBI was investigating last year? Well, it hasn’t improved much. Cutting corners for private profit endangers prisoner safety and public safety. Is that what we want in Lowndes County, Georgia?

The same reporter, Rebecca Boone, wrote again for AP Sunday, almost a year later, CCA-run prison remains Idaho’s most violent lockup

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — In the last four years, Idaho’s largest privately run prison has faced federal lawsuits, widespread public scrutiny, increased state oversight, changes in upper management and even an ongoing FBI investigation.

Yet the Corrections Corp. of America-run Idaho Correctional Center remains the most violent lockup in Idaho.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show that while the assault rate improved somewhat in the four-year period examined, ICC inmates are still more than twice as likely to be assaulted as those at other Idaho prisons.

Between September 2007 and September 2008, both ICC and the state-run Idaho State Correctional Institution were medium-security prisons with roughly 1,500 inmates each. But during that 12-month span, ICC had 132 inmate-on-inmate assaults, compared to just 42 at ISCI. In 2008, ICC had more assaults than all other Idaho prisons combined.

By 2010, both prisons had grown with 2,080 inmates at ICC and 1,688 inmates at ISCI. Records collected by the AP showed that there were 118 inmate-on-inmate assaults at ICC compared to 38 at ISCI. And again last year, ICC had more assaults than all the other prisons combined.

What improvement there has been is because multiple inmates filed lawsuits.

Even so, Idaho renewed and even increased its contract with CCA. With one small improvement: Continue reading →