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Judge: Idaho must thin crowd at prison

By Betsy Z. Russell
Staff writer
September 27, 2005

BOISE – Idaho must move close to 200 inmates out of its overcrowded main state prison by Oct. 28, a federal judge ordered today, due to overcrowding that the court called unconstitutional, “dehumanizing” and a threat to inmates’ safety.

Visiting federal District Judge James M. Fitzgerald ruled against the state’s bid to lift a court-imposed population cap that’s been imposed on the Idaho State Correctional Institution for the past 18 years – a cap the prison already is exceeding.

“The record clearly shows current and ongoing constitutional violations,” Fitzgerald wrote in his decision. In fact, he said, in some cases the only change in some of the prison facilities is that they’re 18 years older.

State prison officials said they’ll move immediately to ship inmates out of state. They’ve been negotiating for beds in case the order came, and making lists of inmates willing to head out of state voluntarily.

“The court recognized we are making a good-faith effort and doing the best we can with the resources available,” state Corrections Director Tom Beauclair said. “We are committed to improving the infrastructure and staffing and trying again.”

He also didn’t rule out appealing the decision.

The medium-security state prison south of Boise housed about 750 inmates when the cap on four housing units was imposed in 1987, as a result of a class-action suit brought by prisoners led by inmate Walter Balla. That prison now houses more than 1,400 inmates.

Various improvements over the years, including the addition of two new units, a new chapel, a new laundry and visiting center and a new inmate classification system, weren’t enough, the judge concluded. “The enhancements do not counterbalance the deleterious effects of the doubling of inmates at ISCI.”

Nicole Hancock, one of the attorneys representing the inmates who sued, said, “Clearly we’re pleased. We think it’s definitely a vindication of what the inmates have been complaining about for several years. … We’re sorry that it took this long, and hope that this will definitely be the step in the right direction to improve conditions out at the prison.”

Beauclair told state lawmakers in June that Idaho needs to build three new prisons at a cost of nearly $160 million.

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