Inmates raise concerns about Cottonwood prison

COTTONWOOD — When Earl Casey arrived at the North Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood about four months ago, he said, there was no running water in his unit.

And as of Thursday, Casey said that hasn’t changed.

“I know that we broke laws, and we put ourselves here — I understand that,” Casey said. “But I just feel like with the way we are treated and everything that’s going on here, I feel like our lives are worth more than that.”

The facility, which is divided into four housing units and has a capacity of 414 inmates, primarily houses men from across the state, including the Treasure Valley, who receive a retained jurisdiction sentence, or a rider, according to the Idaho Department of Correction. These programs help the courts determine whether — after a four- to six-month period of rehabilitation treatment and evaluation — an offender is a candidate for probation, not incarceration.

Both bathrooms on the lower and upper floors in Casey’s unit, No. 4, have been under construction for several months, creating the lack of running water.

Jeff Ray, an IDOC spokesman, said the project, which was supposed to be finished in April, is behind schedule, and the renovations will hopefully be completed in the next couple of weeks. He added other options are available for the men since they are without running water.

While Casey said the men, roughly 120, in his unit are able to use the toilets, sinks and showers in the other units with about the same population, it is only during a specific time frame — which often conflicts with their work and/or programming schedules — and some of the plumbing doesn’t work in these other areas.

Portable toilets are located outside the unit to help, but these can only be used in the evening, Casey said. Handwashing stations and a spigot to fill three water jugs also are outside, which often are frozen for a portion of the day and only produce cold water, he added.

Ray said hot water is always available in the other housing units, and the shower schedule allows ample time every day for the men to use the showers in units two and three. He added hand sanitizer is always available inside unit four and throughout the facility. Ray said there also are two large walk-in urinals in addition to the portable toilets and hand-washing stations outside.

“We share the frustration people are feeling about this project,” Ray said. “We will keep working with the contractor to get unit four’s bathrooms up and running, and we’ll keep doing everything we can to protect the health of the people who live and work at the facility.”

Ray said further renovations are postponed until COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Unit three is the next to be remodeled, and the men housed there will be in a similar position as those currently in unit four.

“I just wonder if we should’ve been housed somewhere else while this project is going on,” Casey said.

The lack of running water isn’t Casey’s only concern. He said the facility hasn’t followed proper sanitation or social distancing guidelines set by public health officials, leading him to worry he might contract the novel coronavirus.

Inmates call attorney, ACLU

Casey isn’t alone in this fear. The 41-year-old is one of about a dozen inmates who have contacted Boise-based attorney Jack Van Valkenburgh and the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, which is investigating the matter.

“Obviously this rises to the level of life-threatening, and so it’s something that we began to investigate pretty much immediately after we heard about a lack of running water in unit four during this pandemic,” said ACLU of Idaho Legal Director Ritchie Eppink. “In this case, the story is pretty simple. We have an airborne pandemic that requires people to wash themselves and surfaces constantly, stay away from each other, and none of the people in Cottonwood who are prisoners and probably many staff who are accessing unit four ... have the ability to do any of those things in a way that makes any sense right now.”

Van Valkenburgh, the former ACLU of Idaho executive director, said he started receiving calls from a number of inmates, including Casey, in early to mid-April. Many public defenders also contacted him on behalf of their clients.

“They all have a very consistent message, that Cottonwood is doing nothing for protecting against COVID-19,” Van Valkenburgh said. “I was quite startled.”

“Are we worried about getting sick in here?” Casey said. “Of course we are. We’re also worried about getting through this program.”

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, there have been no confirmed COVID-19 cases in any IDOC facility, according to the department’s tracking site. More than 35 inmates have been tested in Idaho, with all being negative for the coronavirus. No one currently is in quarantine.

Casey said he was worried coming forward and publicly identifying himself, especially since he has about six or seven weeks left in the program. However, he believed the risk of remaining silent far outweighed the potential cost of speaking out.

Casey said he knows some people might think the men are blowing things out of proportion or deserve these conditions because of their crimes. But Casey said that just isn’t true.

“Somebody needs to stand up and say something,” he said.

Eppink said the ACLU, with assistance from Van Valkenburgh, will continue to investigate the situation, and the organization is still determining where best to put its advocacy and/or litigation resources.

“To put people in circumstances right now where they can’t even follow the recommendations of our own public health officials is unconscionable and a great, great shame on Idaho and our society in general,” Eppink said. “Regardless of the reason why people have ended up at Cottonwood or any other jail or prison, they shouldn’t be exposed to life-threatening risks in those situations, and that’s exactly what IDOC is doing to these prisoners at Cottonwood.”

Ray declined to discuss the ACLU’s investigation, and said IDOC officials do not comment on litigation or the possibility of it.

Heersink can be contacted at oheersink@idahopress.com or (208) 465-8178, or followed on Twitter @heersinkolivia. Idaho Press reporter Tommy Simmons contributed to this story.