Disability Law Center Archives | Utah Prisoner Advocate Network

A new Clinical Power of Attorney form promises to give inmates more control over when and how medical information can be shared with their families

September 15, 2017 By Mike McAinsh

For years, families have looked on from afar in frustration as their incarcerated loved one suffered due to poor clinical practices. If they called the prison to find answers, they were met with an excuse such as, “Due to your son’s right to privacy, we cannot discuss his medical condition with you.” Because of the clamor of inmates and their families for a way that medical … [Read more...]

Utah Office of the Legislative Auditor General Completes the Audit of the Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP)

April 3, 2017 By Molly Prince

by Mike McAinsh and Molly Prince SOTP Audit Finds Utah Department of Correction's Program Was Poorly Managed With Weak Oversight The Legislative Audit of Utah State Prison’s Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP Audit) was released to the public on April 3, 2017. The audit report was presented to the Legislative Audit Subcommittee by Lead Auditor August Lehman, CFE. Also … [Read more...]

Priorities for Utah’s New Correctional Facility

November 16, 2015 By Anna Brower

People Not Prisons: Physical & Programmatic Priorities for Utah’s New Correctional Facility The People Not Prisons Coalition is a loose coalition of advocacy groups working on behalf of people with mental health conditions, people recovering from substance use disorders, and men and women caught up in Utah’s criminal justice system. Our Coalition includes but is not … [Read more...]

Hunger Strike at Utah State Prison

August 4, 2015 By UPAN

There's been a media frenzy over the past few days about a current hunger strike happening at the Utah State Prison. UPAN organizers have been hard at work fielding questions and interviews with reporters on the matter as well as gathering the facts. On Friday, July 31st a group of 42 inmates housed at the maximum-security Uinta 2 facility at the Utah State Prison refused … [Read more...]

Rally for Criminal Justice Reform

February 10, 2015 By Anna Brower

Rally for Criminal Justice Reform Do you think: People with drug problems need HELP, not PRISON? Our state needs to do more to help people with mental illness? People coming out of prison should get a second chance to be successful in our communities? So Do We! Rally With Us! Join these diverse groups to rally in support of Utah's "Justice Reinvestment" criminal … [Read more...]

Posted Tuesday June 18th, 2019 - 8:48 pm

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Utah prison system down to 199 open beds as inmate population grows at a rate that the director warns is ‘not sustainable’

In the past 18 months, the population housed in Utah’s state prison system has grown by 362 inmates, Department of Corrections Executive Director Mike Haddon, said Tuesday, bringing the total count to 6,766 people.

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Instead of keeping everyone in there for life a rehabilitaion program that consisted of counseling schooling and training might reduce this issue and give the inmates motivation to do something different with themselves.

Let more people go on parole and work, instead of keeping them in prison on the tax payers bill.

Looks like they should be working on mental health facilities not locking everyone up

Posted Tuesday June 18th, 2019 - 7:53 pm

Here’s a look at why the population of troubled inmates has increased in jails and what’s being done to address the problem: ... See MoreSee Less

Q&A: A look at the issue of mentally ill inmates in jails

The nation’s jails face increasing pressures as they house large numbers of mentally ill and addicted inmates. But the policies that contributed to this problem are decades in the making.

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Posted Tuesday June 18th, 2019 - 12:32 pm

Suicide, long the leading cause of death in U.S. jails, hit a high of 50 deaths for every 100,000 inmates in 2014, the latest year for which the government has released data. That’s 2½ times the rate of suicides in state prisons and about 3½ times that of the general population. ... See MoreSee Less

AP Investigation: Many US jails fail to stop inmate suicides

The last time Tanna Jo Fillmore talked with her mother, she was in a Utah jail, angry, pleading and desperate. She’d called every day that past week, begging for help.

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Posted Tuesday June 18th, 2019 - 12:01 pm

A new report by The Council of State Governments Justice Center, with support from Arnold Ventures, reveals the startling extent to which probation and parole violations contribute to states’ high prison admissions and populations, as well as the subsequent cost to taxpayers. #ReentryMatters

csgjusticecenter.org/confinedandcostly/ ... See MoreSee Less

Confined and Costly | CSG Justice Center

Probation and parole are designed to lower prison populations and help people succeed in the community. New data show they are having the opposite effect. Until now, national data regarding the impact of probation violations on prison populations have been unavailable, resulting in a lopsided focus....

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Makes the state a lot of money

Posted Tuesday June 18th, 2019 - 10:06 am

Kyle Martinson, 20, can be heard coughing and calling for help from his jail cell as detention facility officers stand in the hallway nearby hours before his death, caused by complications from pneumonia, according to Coconino County Detention Facility jail footage.

“There’s nothing wrong with you. Drink some water” were the last words a detention facility officer told Martinson before she closed the door to his cell. Martinson would be found unresponsive over two hours later ... See MoreSee Less

Jail footage shows Kyle Martinson yell for help before death

Kyle Martinson, 20, can be heard coughing and calling for help from his jail cell as detention facility officers stand in the hallway nearby hours before his death, caused by

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This stuff happens all the time! And yes if you want to call it a physical in some places when they come in, even if they find something it can be months before something is done. I have seen broken bones get left without care I have seen many things and heard many things working in the system medical is horrible in most places! Thank you for starting to make this public! Word needs to get out

The jails and prisons fo not care about the inmates they are treated like cattle and do not get proper medical attention or even the basic hygiene items if your family can't send money on your books you go without shampoo soap things that you need to be clean in there it is a messed up system and things should be looked at and changed I know anyone who ends up in a jail or prison has to pay for their crime but they are human to and they are somebody's çhild mother father sister brother and it's absolutely appalling what goes on

This happens to much and I know some people have their opinions that the person did something or they would be there but the fact is they are still a human being and there are people that love them

That’s some bullshit omg wtf is wrong with these guards .

Why does this keep happening??

Isn’t there a “physical” of sorts that takes place as they get admitted? I mean if they had lice and other things, spreading it to jailers and inmates would be bad! Maybe we should step that program up?

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A new Clinical Power of Attorney form promises to give inmates more control over when and how medical information can be shared with their families

Utah Office of the Legislative Auditor General Completes the Audit of the Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP)

Priorities for Utah’s New Correctional Facility

Hunger Strike at Utah State Prison

Rally for Criminal Justice Reform

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