CO shanked at MCF Rush City!

 

Alpha news is reporting one CO was shanked and 3 others also injured.

 Full Story Alpha News

Anoka County Board affirms that Anoka County is NOT a sanctuary County

 This months Anoka County News magazine has an article entitled "Non-Sanctuary Resolution Affirms Rule of Law."

This is a breath of fresh air to see local elected officials like the Anoka County Commissioners, County Attorney Brad Johnson and Anoka County Sheriff Brad Wise enforcing the law and protecting citizens in the face of so much media backlash on immigration enforcement.

So what does this look like? I spoke to Anoka County Commissioner John Heinrich on the phone and confirmed these facts. 

If a person is arrested and booked into the Anoka County Jail ICE has access to inmate bookings and ICE will notify them if a non-citizen has an immigration Warrant or Detainer.

The Anoka County Jail will not hold an inmate beyond their normal release just on the basis of an ICE Detainer, but ICE will be notified of an inmates pending release if there is a Detainer so they can take them into custody. 

I worked for 26 years in the Hennepin County Jail and we used to hold inmates for ICE on detainers all the time. Generally at about 9 AM every morning ICE would come and pick 2 or 3 people with immigration holds and take them to an Immigration Judge in Bloomington. They had a hearing at 11 AM and the judge would decide whether to hold them or not. Then at some point we got a letter from Sheriff Rich Stanek and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman (if memory serves 2014) stating we could no longer hold inmates for ICE on a Detainer. The practice became that ICE would be notified of their release and if they got there in time they arrested them, if not they walked free. 

This practice creates a public safety threat. An inmate on an ICE detainer can be anyone from someone who overstayed a student VISA to someone wanted for murder in another country. Now they might walk free. This also means ICE has to go into the community and find them creating a safety issue for ICE agents and others who may be present.

Sadly this dangerous practice is enforced by recent Court rulings. In 2017 Anoka County got fined $30,000 for holding an inmate for ICE after being booked in after a traffic accident! This lawsuit was filed by the ACLU.

Currently Carver County is fighting both the ACLU and MN Attorney General Keith Ellison on this very issue. Here's the lawsuit. I hope Carver County prevails and common sense can again rule the day. The ACLU and Keith Ellison seem more concerned with non-citizens then public safety.

Sheriff's take an oath of office to uphold both the Minnesota Constitution and the United States Constitution. I believe holding someone in the Country illegally for ICE serves both of those. 

There is a misnomer that cooperating with ICE is somehow not local law enforcements job. Critics claim that local law enforcement are stopping and holding people for ICE. This is simply not true. A local cop or Sheriff's Deputy can't arrest someone solely on being an illegal alien. But if they are arrested on a local or State crime they certainly should honor an Immigration detainer just like they honor Holds for other Counties and States.

Hopefully Carver County is victorious in this lawsuit and the safer practice of holding illegal aliens with an ICE Detainer will again become reality. Until then it's refreshing to see County's like Anoka cooperating as much as they can with ICE.

NY National Guard member charged with bringing contraband to inmates

Last February some NY Correctional Officers went on strike. The National Guard  replaced the striking CO's. This caused some dangerous problems.

The Times Union is reporting that "A National Guard member charged with selling drugs and phones to inmates."

Full Story

One third of Stillwater inmates already transferred out

KSTP is reporting- The decision to close the second-oldest prison in Minnesota continues to trouble some state lawmakers. They’ve been raising questions ever since May 15, when Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders announced the closing of the Stillwater prison as part of a budget deal.

It appears to be too late to do anything to stop the closure because, as of this week, about 400 of the 1,200 inmates have been transferred to other correctional facilities.

“I was notified two days before they had the press conference, so it came as a complete shock to me and the representatives of this district,” says Sen. Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, about the Stillwater closing announcement.

Housley and two other Republican Senators issued a news release earlier this month continuing to question the move.

“My first concern regarding the closing of Stillwater Prison was the lack of public hearings or discussion by the proper legislative committees that have jurisdiction in this area,” Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, says in the news release. “Stillwater Prison houses violent and predatory inmates, and after meeting with numerous area corrections officers, it is clear that the decision to close Stillwater is hasty and will do nothing but lead to the further erosion of public safety throughout Minnesota.”

 Full Story KSTP

The story goes on to say that- The 450 correctional workers at Stillwater will be offered jobs elsewhere in the system.

It should be remembered that AFSCME the Correctional Officers Union was never notified of this major change and opposed it.

In violation of PREA ordered to strip search an opposite gender

 

Law Enforcement Today is reporting-

MILFORD, MA – A female corrections officer out of Massachusetts says she faced retaliation from her employer after pushing back against a policy imposed upon corrections employees forcing female officers to strip search biologically male inmates who self-identify as female.

FULL STORY

Happy Independence Day

 

Freeborn County Sheriff suing Minnesota

 KAALTV is reporting that 

(ABC 6 News) — Freeborn County Sheriff Ryan Shea announced he is taking legal action against the State of Minnesota to prevent a new law from going into effect on July 1.

According to a letter posted to the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, the legal action pertains to a new law that would require Minnesota jails to continue to administer the same prescription medication prescribed to inmates that were prescribed prior to their confinement.

The new law, according to Sheriff Shea, could be “harmful” and bring with it “potentially deadly consequences.”

Sheriff Shea said the Freeborn County Adult Detention Center contracts with Advanced Correctional Healthcare to provide medical care at the jail, and the law “takes away their ability to practice medicine using their training, experience, education, and expertise.”

Sheriff Shea expressed further concern that medical professionals at the jail may not always be able to get ahold of health care professionals who prescribed the medication to get permission to possibly take inmates off the prescriptions.

Sheriff Shea said there are many times where individuals come to the jail with prescriptions that they have not taken for weeks, potentially counteract with street drugs they have taken, improperly obtained prescriptions, or prescriptions that are no longer appropriate for their mental health state.

As a result, Sheriff Shea stated that restarting these medications at the beginning of their confinement could cause adverse health effects, putting ACH, Freeborn County, and the FCSO at risk for civil lawsuits.

Sheriff Shea also stated these prescriptions would come at the cost of taxpayer dollars since it is an unfunded mandate by the state.

The legal action calls for a temporary restraining order and injunction to prevent 2025 session chapter 35, article 5, section 7 from going into effect.

Happy Memorial Day

 

Remember the Fallen

Jelly Roll visits the Hennepin County Jail

Musician Jelly Roll visited the Hennepin County jail while he was in town the other day.

Photo's from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.

CO Union opposes Stillwater closing

 

FULL STORY

Stillwater Prison Closing!

The Minnesota Department of Corrections has announced they are closing Stillwater Prison. They cite economic, health and safety reasons.

They do not intend to build a new prison but to spread the inmates to the State's other 9 facilities. They also expect to reduce staff, however it should be pointed out that there is already a severe shortage of Corrections Officers in Minnesota and overcrowding in most prisons and jails.

Short staffing is already a major safety issue for staff and inmates.

As a retired Detention Deputy from Hennepin County I remember a time that the State had an overcrowding situation and dumped inmates near the end of their sentences into County Jails. This created a logistical nightmare of keeping convicted inmates separated from pre-trial inmates and the angry State inmates who didn't have the programs they were accustomed to in prison. The State also paid a very low daily rate to the County to house their inmates pushing the cost onto the County taxpayers.

Let's hope the State doesn't do that again, but I doubt they thought that far ahead.

Full Story KSTP

Judge STRIPS NYC of Control Over Rikers Island

 Gateway Pundit is reporting : Judge STRIPS NYC of Control Over Rikers Island.

A federal judge has stripped the city of control over its notorious Rikers Island jail complex, citing “unprecedented” levels of violence, systemic mismanagement, and a blatant disregard for court orders.

In a scathing 77-page ruling released Tuesday, Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain officially stripped New York City and its Department of Correction (DOC) of full control over Rikers Island, citing a decade of failure to protect inmates from “grave and immediate” harm, including unconstitutional levels of violence, abuse, and systemic mismanagement.

The ruling, issued in the landmark Nunez v. City of New York case, appoints an independent “Nunez Remediation Manager” to take control over key safety and use-of-force functions at Rikers.

FULL STORY

3 Virginia State CO's stabbed by MS 13

 3 Virginia State CO's were stabbed by 6 inmates.

The Gateway Pundit is reporting:

“The attack occurred at approximately 9:45 am on Friday, May 2. Five of the six inmates involved in the attack are confirmed MS-13 gang members from El Salvador, who were in this country illegally. Each have been convicted of violet crimes including aggravated murder, first and second degree murder, and rape. The other inmate involved in the attack is a confirmed members of the Sureno 13 gang and from the United States, serving a sentence for second degree murder,” a statement from Virginia Department of Corrections Director Chad Dotson said.

Five officers were transported for outside medical treatment. Three officers, including two who were injured responding to the attack, suffered minor injuries. Two officers admitted to the hospital are in stable condition.

“Five of the individuals responsible for this senseless attack should never have been in this country in the first place,” VADOC Director Chad Dotson stated in the release.

FULL STORY

National Correctional Officer week

This year National Correctional Officer week begins May 4th. First proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan May 4, 1987.

Proclamation 5649 -- National Correctional Officers Week, 1987

May 4, 1987

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

No group of Americans has a more difficult or less publicly visible job than the brave men and women who work in our correctional facilities. Correctional officers who work in jails and prisons are currently responsible for the safety, containment, and control of more than 600,000 prisoners. Correctional officers must protect inmates from violence from fellow prisoners, while encouraging them to develop skills and attitudes that can help them become productive members of society after their release.

The general public should fully appreciate correctional officials' capable handling of the physical and emotional demands made upon them daily. Their profession requires careful and constant vigilance, and the threat of violence is always present. At the same time, these dedicated employees try to improve the living conditions of those who are being confined.

It is appropriate that we honor the correctional officers in all our institutions, at all levels of government, for their invaluable contributions to our society.

The Congress, by Public Law 99 - 611, has designated the week beginning May 3, 1987, as ``National Correctional Officers Week'' and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this event.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning May 3, 1987, as National Correctional Officers Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this week with appropriate activities and ceremonies.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:42 a.m., May 5, 1987]

Note: The proclamation was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on May 5.

Date

05/04/1987

Hennepin County Detention Deputy back to work after serious assault

Hennepin County Detention Deputy back to work after serious assault.

Fox 9 Full story and video:

Short staffing leads to early inmate release

 The Times Union is reporting: 

ALBANY — New York is going to begin letting inmates out of understaffed state prisons if they are within 110 days of their release date and have a residence where they can live that has been verified by parole officers.

State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Daniel F. Martuscello III issued a memo Monday to all state prison superintendents directing them to create spreadsheets of the inmates who qualify for early release, which will include factors such as whether they have active warrants or are participating in drug treatment programs.

The memo was released a day after nearly 50 correction officers at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida County briefly refused to go into the facility due to low staffing and what they viewed as a dangerous situation. A person briefed on the matter said the prison was operating during the Sunday morning job action with fewer than a dozen correction officers and a small number of National Guard members. The officers reported to their work areas around 9:30 a.m. after roughly two hours.

FULL STORY

More Detention News

Striking New York Corrections Officers can be hired by other agencies.

UTICA, N.Y. — Correctional officers who participated in and were terminated by participating in strikes at New York State Correctional Facilities may be employed by county agencies starting April 10.

That's the date an executive order by Governor Kathy Hochul is scheduled to expire.

Oneida County took legal action against the Governor and New York state over her executive order 47.3, which instated the ban. The state clarified that the order was temporary, and as of April 10, any local government is now permitted to hire any terminated correction officer.

FULL STORY

INMATE DEATH IN ANOKA COUNTY JAIL UNDER INVESTIGATION

FULL STORY

Rochester Nurse had an affair with a Federal Prisoner in Rochester MN

• A prison nurse at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Rochester was indicted for abusive sexual contact with an inmate and making false statements to federal law enforcement.

FULL STORY- Fox 9

Hennepin County Detention Deputy Assaulted

 

A Hennepin County Detention Deputy was assaulted by inmate Dellione Pierre Robison. According to the news article (Source Alpha News) The Detention Deputy suffered a concussion and a broken nose.

Robison has been charged (probable cause) with Fourth Degree Assault. Given Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarity's penchant to downgrade charges we hope this sticks. This is a line of duty injury.

Judge Orders Bureau of Prisons to Return Transgender Inmates to Women’s Facilities!

Gateway Pundit is reporting,  Judge Orders Bureau of Prisons to Return Transgender Inmates to Women’s Facilities!

This reverses President Trumps executive order and places women in danger!

FULL STORY

From the article:

One significant case occurred at Logan Correctional Center in central Illinois on June 18, 2019, where a female inmate, referred to as Jane Doe, alleged she was raped by Janiah Monroe, a transgender inmate with male genitalia.

Doe claimed prison officials conducted a “sham investigation,” classifying the assault as consensual to avoid violating the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), and she faced punishment for reporting it.

In 2022, another case at Rikers Island involved a lawsuit claiming a man posing as a transgender woman raped a female prisoner, with allegations that jail staff ignored warnings about the individual’s true gender identity.

Tremaine Carroll, a transgender inmate, was charged with raping multiple female inmates in 2024. Carroll had been transferred to the women’s facility under California’s Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act, which allows inmates to be housed based on their gender identity. Following the allegations, Carroll was moved back to a men’s prison.

When will real women be important again?

New York fires 2,000 striking correctional officers

 New York officials fired more than 2,000 prison guards on Monday for not returning to work after a weekslong strike.

Enough correctional officers had returned to work for the state to declare an end to the wildcat strike, a labor action that violated a state law prohibiting strikes by most public employees.

"After 22 days of an illegal strike, the governor and I are happy to report it is now ended," Corrections Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said during a virtual press briefing.

The state and the guards’ union, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, reached a new deal to end the strike over the weekend, but it was contingent on at least 85% of staff returning to work by Monday morning. While the 85% goal was not met, Martuscello said the state would honor some of the agreement's provisions, including on overtime work.

FULL STORY Fox News

Union accuses NY prison system of illegal actions

 ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – The union (NYSCOPBA-New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association) representing striking Correction Officers at the Elmira Correctional Facility and other prisons around the state of New York sent a message to its members on Friday, accusing the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s office of unethical and illegal conduct surrounding negotiations with union members

FULL STORY MYTWINTIERS.COM

NY to begin firing striking Corrections Officers

 Spectrum News 1 is reporting "New York begins terminating striking Corrections Officers, cancelling their health insurance"

FULL STORY

Bill to ban males from Shokopee womens prison

There's finally a Bill to ban incarcerating men in the Shakopee women's prison. It's hard to believe this is even a question. 

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), a Federal Law would seem to already have this covered. Not to mention common sense, which seems to be lacking in Minnesota theses days.

Let's hope this bill passes!

Full Story Alpha News

Yet another NY prison takeover by inmates!

WWNYTV 7 News is reporting that the  Riverview Correctional Facility had inmates take over dormitories in that facility during an overnight shift. 

FULL STORY

Follow up to NY prison uprising and more news

There's been more developments since the NY prison uprising we last wrote about.

Many of the NY Corrections Officers have gone on a wildcat strike.

NY Post is reporting that NY Governor Hochul has filed a suit against them.

and Parole officers have been ordered to fill in at correctional facilities during the strike as well as the National Guard ordered into prisons.

Meanwhile in Hawaii

Amid workforce crisis, corrections department opts to leave some jail posts unmanned before approving overtime

More news regarding Corrections

Here's several news headlines affecting the Corrections Profession.

The good the bad and the ugly.

New York state prison placed on lockdown after inmates take over, injure three corrections officers | Fox News

Charges: Former Anoka County work release officer had sexual relationship with inmate - Bring Me The News

From FOX 9 Minneapolis - Drug-laced legal papers prompt jailhouse investigation (Hennepin County Jail)

NY Sheriff may face Federal charges for releasing an illegal alien criminal

 

Full story Law Enforcement Today.

Sheriff's and jails should pay attention. Things have hanged.

Bill to ban men from being housed with women in MN prisons

Who would ever thought such a bill would be necessary, but here we are. It's hard to believe this was allowed under the PREA.

Hoping this bill passes.

Full story Alpha News.

Some Corrections stories in the news

 Here's a couple of Corrections related headlines in the news.

Trans inmate's lawsuit challenges Trump 'two-sexes' order cutting off tax money for gender therapy - Fox News

Family suing after 59-year-old's death at Olmsted County Jail -Just The News

Which Minnesota Jails hold ICE inmates? And What's changed?

Not all jails have a contract with the Federal Government to house ICE inmates. Those Corrections Officers in those jails are going to be very busy for the foreseeable future.

ICE has agreements with the jails in Elk River in Sherburne County, Albert Lea in Freeborn County and Willmar in Kandiyohi County to use them as detention facilities for holding detainees. Full story CBS/WCCO.

People in the country illegally are housed in these facilities until they have a hearing and are released or deported. These jails actually are paid by the Feds and this offsets the the cost of running their jails for local taxpayers. (See this previous post in the Detention Home Blog about Sherburne County and Ice.)

As a retiree from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office this is how things have changed. 

Up until the middle of the Stanek administration foreign nationals who were arrested in Hennepin County were run by ICE to see if they were here legally. If not ICE would put a hold on them and when their county charges were done or they were to be released we'd hold them overnight until ICE picked them up the next day. They'd go to an immigration hearing. Much the same as if they had a hold for a neighboring County or State. Typically they'd pick up 2-3 a day, more on Monday after a weekend. It was a daily occurrence.

Then around 2014 Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman decided Hennepin County would no longer honor those holds and we had to release them. The result was at least a dozen a week released back into the community!

The new policy was we'd notify ICE when they were going to be released. If they got there in time they would arrest them as they were leaving the release area. If not they walked free. We were not to delay their release to wait for ICE. Too many just walked.

To clarify, a person arrested with only an immigration hold was not brought into the Hennepin County Jail. The arresting agency would have to drive them to a county jail that had the contract. Only inmates arrested for a crime in Hennepin County who also had an ICE hold were held over.

IMO not honoring an ICE hold endangers public safety. Those County's not honoring these holds are endangering their citizens.