Idaho Prison Project Newsletter

Must Reads

On the Power of Small Acts of Noncompliance. Elie Mystal, who often writes about the Supreme Court or other Federal courts, wrote about the importance of engaging in everyday acts of non-compliance to support our fellow humans. “...every life saved, every person helped, is a victory over [fascists]. These people want us to give in to despair. They want us to give up. They want us to look at their scoreboard of victories and determine that the game is unwinnable. So I’m playing a different game, one that is not about winning or losing, but helping or not helping.” 

Masked Terror. Sherrilyn Ifill, former lead counsel for the NAACP, writes about the dangers of masked ICE agents and other law enforcement. She discusses parallels between law enforcement refusing to identify themselves and the Klan and describes how this harms an open functioning democracy. 

Homeland Security’s ‘welfare’ check on Idaho migrant students raises school privacy questions. Investigate West reported that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, was contacting school resource officers in Caldwell to conduct ‘welfare checks’ on migrant children who arrived unaccompanied and are staying with relatives. This unusual move bypassed standard privacy and safety protocols at the schools. In other states, these ‘welfare checks’ have resulted in arrests of relatives for immigration violations and the children placed in government care.

News Around Idaho

Since this is the first time this newsletter is being published, some of this news goes back months. 

Lewis-Clark State College held graduation ceremonies last May at the Idaho State Correctional Center near Boise and at the Orofino correctional institution. This is a great milestone since we know what education can do to reduce crime and recidivism. 

Bonneville County Jail expands from 532 to 623 beds, making it the second largest detention center overall in Idaho.

Latah County Jail has recently closed, routing all inmates to the Nez Perce County Jail in Lewiston, Idaho.

HB 135 was temporarily blocked by Idaho judge, allowing immigrants to receive HIV treatment regardless of legal status. This is a reminder that laws targeting undocumented immigrants accessing public resources can endanger public health for everyone

Visas were restored for University of Idaho international students whose visas were unexpectedly revoked. While it is unclear why their visas were terminated, available information suggests that minor criminal infractions (e.g. traffic tickets) may have been the the reason.

Idaho Governor signs a 287 agreement with ICE and mobilizes the Idaho National Guard to cooperate with ICE.

ICE arrests and detentions rise steeply in Idaho. Arrests increased from 41 in 2024 to 368 thus far in 2025. The youngest person arrested is a 6 year old Peruvian girl here with her family. Since there is no place in Idaho to hold minors, they are often transported to a migrant detention facility in Las Vegas.

The Moscow Murders: True Crime and Community Harm

Two weeks ago, this blog published an essay on the Moscow murders (the quadruple murder that occurred November, 2022), the subsequent media frenzy that resulted and how it harmed the local community. It’s a long piece of writing (3500 words) that argues that true crime sensationalization is damaging to affected communities and that traditional journalism played a significant role in feeding the true crime frenzy.

It’s not that I hate the “mainstream media” (that term is often a warning that some conspiracy-infused writing is imminent). But, the media coverage of this crime, while factually correct, placed an outsized emphasis on this salacious crime at the expense of other, arguably more important stories. It fed into a true crime narrative that emphasizes ultra-violent crime and reinforces discredited views about what keeps us safe and what risks we face from violent crimes.

Both traditional journalism and true crime outlets stoke the appetite for violence porn that is harmful to societal functioning because it makes us afraid of each other. My wish is that crime journalism will shift to cover crime commensurate with the risk it poses to us and stops being a mouthpiece for copaganda, that is news that reflects the views and priorities of police. It’s a very long essay, 3500 words! But it’s thorough and well documented with sub-headers if you need a break; I tried to keep it engaging, so give it a try.