Corrections Corporation of America, the private company that last year was accused of running Idaho's most-violent lockup - The Idaho Correctional Center - is dealing with a riot at another of its facilities, in Mississippi, where one guard was killed and eight others injured.

The riot at the Adams County Correctional Center in southwest Mississippi erupted Sunday afternoon and involved dozens of inmates before being brought under control last night. At one time, at least two dozen hostages had been held by the inmates. The prison, owned and operated by CCA, holds illegal immigrants, most for charges of re-entering the United States after being deported.

In October 2011, the Associated Press reported that Idaho inmates at the ICC were more than twice as likely to be assaulted as those at other Idaho prisons. The report revealed that during a 12-month span, ICC had 132 inmate-on-inmate assaults.

Inmate 23081 has been moved to F Block of the Idaho State Correctional Institute in preparation for his scheduled execution, set for Tuesday, June 12.

Brent Reinke, director of Idaho's Department of Correction, told Citydesk that inmate Richard Leavitt had a sense that his pending execution was coming.

"Absolutely. He was ready to be moved," said Reinke. "For an individual at his stage in the legal process, he was resolved and knew what to expect. The warden did a very good job of communicating with him."

Reinke said that prison officials also made some recommendations regarding other inmates on death row. Leavitt is one of 14 inmates on death row: 13 men and one woman.

"During last November's execution process [leading up to the death of inmate Paul Ezra Rhoades], we tried very diligently to reach out to that population," said Reinke. "The warden told me, 'Look, you've gone a bit too far. Just back off a bit. It's going to be OK. If they need help, they're going to ask you for it.'"

Reinke confirmed that IDOC has opted to use a one-drug injection method for the execution, which is slated for 10 a.m., June 12. Two syringes, each containing 2.5 grams of pentobarbital, will be used, instead of the three-drug method that was used during the Rhoades execution in November.

Leavitt was convicted of the stabbing death of Danette Elg in her Blackfoot home in July 1985. She had been stabbed 15 times and sexually mutilated. Leavitt was convicted in September 1985, but spent the rest of his days appealing his conviction and sentence. His most-recent appeal, to the U.S. Supreme Court, was turned down this week. On Monday, the high court declined to hear his case.

• Idaho Dept. of Correction
• Richard Leavitt

Idaho is poised to conduct its next execution, the second inmate scheduled to be put to death in less than 12 months, but only the third since 1957.

Richard Leavitt, 53, also known as inmate 23081, is set to be put to death on Tuesday, June 12.

Leavitt was convicted of the stabbing death of Danette Elg in her Blackfoot home in July 1985. She had been stabbed 15 times and sexually mutilated. Leavitt was convicted in September 1985, but spent the rest of his days appealing his conviction and sentence. His most recent appeal, to the U.S. Supreme Court, was turned down this week. On Monday, the high court declined to hear his case.

On Nov. 18, 2011, Paul Ezra Rhoades was executed at the state prison facility, south of Boise.

Since Rhoades' death, the Idaho Department of Correction has revised its execution procedures.

Perhaps the greatest change is how a condemned man or woman shall die. Rhoades was killed with what was commonly known as a "three-drug" process, in which an anesthetic and paralytic were injected before a third drug was administered, which caused cardiac arrest. IDOC now has given itself new protocols that will offer executioners single-drug options, in which an anesthetic (either sodium pentothal or pentobarbital) is injected at a high-enough dose to cause death.

According to the Associated Press, the Idaho Legislature will be tasked with finding $1.6 million more for the Idaho Department of Correction in order to fund significant stopgap measures to improve medical conditions at the Idaho State Correctional Institution.

In March, an independent 94-page report deemed heath care at the lock-up suffered "serious problems" that violated "the right of inmates at ISCI to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment." In one instance an inmate, whose X-rays discovered a lesion on his chest, was not informed of his condition for seven months thus denying him "his basic human right to participate in his care."

"It really gives you goose bumps," said Lea Cooper, American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho staff attorney. "The way we treat the least powerful members in our society says a lot about our society."

But on Tuesday evening, IDOC signed a new agreement that requires more medical caregivers on site, in addition to the establishment of an ombudsman to provide oversight and field complaints. The prison has six months to get the changes under way, followed by a two-year monitoring period.

But the first course of business will be to secure funding from Idaho lawmakers.

The contracted medical care provider at the Idaho State Correction Institution is pushing back against a scathing independent report with a report of its own.

The original analysis, a 94-page-report written by Dr. March Stern, a court-appointed health-care expert, pulled no punches, documenting "serious problems," that according to Stern, violated "the rights of inmates at ISCI to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment." Non-urgent care was poor and emergency care was "troubling," according to Stern. In one instance, an inmate whose X-rays revealed a lesion on his chest, was not informed of his condition for seven months, thus denying him "his basic human right to participate in his care."

"The way we treat the least powerful members in our society says a lot about our society," said Lea Cooper, American Civili Liberties Union of Idaho staff attorney. "It really gives you goose bumps."

But Tennessee-based Corizon, which provides care at the prison under a state-approved contract, commissioned its own study, which it said vindicated its level of care as "sufficiently organized and in substantial compliance."

Corrizon CEO Rich Hallworth said the new report should be considered a "complete vidication" for his company.

• Courtesy Idaho Department of Correction
• A sign that says Darrington Way has been placed on the arch of the entrance to the South Boise prison complex.

Declo Republican Sen. Denton Darrington - the Idaho Legislature's current longest-serving lawmaker who announced he was retiring this year - was honored today: The main road that runs through the main South Boise Complex of the Idaho Department of Correction was named "Darrington Way."

“Sen. Darrington is a giant in the field of criminal justice in Idaho,” says IDOC Director Brent Reinke. “No other person has done more over the past three decades to keep the people of Idaho safe and to hold offenders accountable.”

Darrington is credited with helping to create the Idaho Unified Sentencing Act, the State Appellate Public Defender's Office and the Department of Juvenile Corrections.

A sign that says Darrington Way has been placed on the arch of the entrance to the prison complex.

Darrington said he had considered running for re-election, but since redistricting placed him the same district as his friend and colleague Rupert GOP Sen. Dean Cameron, he decided to retire.

The Associated Press reports that four inmates currently on Idaho's death row are challenging Idaho's new execution procedures. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that Idaho prison officials were granted too much authority over executions in a string of new laws, recently passed by the Idaho Legislature.

The suit names Idaho Department of Correction director Brent Reinke, operations division chief Kevin Kempf and other department officials. IDOC has confirmed that Idaho may see another execution as early as this spring or summer.

The inmates suing IDOC are all awaiting execution: Thomas Creech, James Hairson, Richard Leavitt and Gene Stuart. All four are being represented by the Federal Public Defender's Office.

You can read about the new rules here, along with how Idaho will mark a grim anniversary this Friday of the state's only double execution.

The Idaho Department of Correction responded Monday to a damaging court report detailing substandard inmate health care at the Idaho State Correctional Institution south of Boise.

The report had been sealed under concerns from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office that its release could cause “unjustified public scandal.” But U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill unsealed the report late last week, saying the public’s right to know outweighed the state’s concern.

The Associated Press reported that state attorneys argued the report should stay under wraps until all parties had a chance to contest the report’s findings. Attorneys representing Idaho inmates said any potential embarrassment the report may cause the state doesn’t justify a veil of secrecy.

The Idaho Department of Correction originally vowed to keep a tight lip about the release of the report or its contents.

“I don’t expect that the director will be making any comments,” Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray said last week. “It’s best that these matters be heard in court.”

But Monday, the department made an about-face, releasing a one-page statement refuting the report’s findings and Winmill's decision to unseal the document.

“While a few of the allegations raised in the report sent to the court may be well-founded but unfortunate anomalies, most of them have been or are being addressed. There has been significant progress in recent months, and we believe it is important to focus on the positive while continuing to improve health care conditions and practices within Idaho’s prisons,” the IDOC statement read.

Winmill appointed an expert to draft the report as part of a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates against the state. The suit bundled a litany of lawsuits that threatened to clog federal court dockets in the 1980s.

The health care at an Idaho prison has been deemed "cruel and unusual punishment" and "neglect" in a new report released by the Associated Press today.

According to the document, Dr. Marc Stern, a health care expert, said that inmates in terminal or long-term care at the Idaho State Correctional Institution south of Boise have been subjected to errors that have likely resulted in more than one death. One inmate was not informed for seven months that he had cancer.

The result of a lawsuit brought by the prison's inmates, Stern was appointed to study the care provided at the prison. The AP reported that the Idaho Department of Correction and Brentwood, Tenn.-based Corizon Health plan to issue a response that addresses the allegations.

While Corizon provides all of Idaho's state-run prisons with medical care, this report focuses only on the Boise prison.

In spite of attempts by the State of Idaho to keep the report sealed, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill is expected this week to reveal an expert's analysis of medical care, or the lack thereof, for inmates inside the systems of the Idaho Department of Corrections.

In the 1980s, a series of lawsuits surrounding prison inmate treatment began to fill dockets at the U.S. Courthouse and eventually a class-action suit gained steam, alleging violence, overcrowding and basic care behind Idaho's prison gates, and, in particular, the Idaho State Correctional Institute.

Now Winmill says it's time for the public to get a glimpse of an analysis on inmate medical care. The report, drafted by Dr. Marc Stern, is expected to be revealed sometime this week. According to the Associated Press, Winmill wants opposing lawyers, representing the state and prisoners, to be prepared to craft public statements to accompany the report's release.