Latest news with #IdahoReports
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
IDOC pauses all executions to build firing squad chamber
The execution chamber at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south of Boise. (Courtesy of IDOC) This story originally published May 27 on Idaho Reports. The Idaho Department of Correction has put a pause on all state executions as of May 23 to complete renovations of the death row facility at the Idaho State Maximum Security Institution. The unit, known as F-Block, houses the existing facility for lethal injection executions. The pause is needed to allow renovation of the facility to make the firing squad the primary form of execution by July 1, 2026, according to an IDOC news release. Idaho will be only state with firing squad as main execution method, after governor signs bill The state had the firing squad as a secondary method until the Legislature passed House Bill 37 this year. Under the new law, Idaho would be the only state in the nation to use the firing squad as its primary method of execution. 'The current estimated time frame to complete this retrofit is approximately 6 to 9 months,' according to the news release. 'Following completion of the remodel, the execution team will need time to conduct training to be ready to carry out an execution by firing squad beginning July 2026. The Department is confident it will meet the required timelines and will do so on budget.' IDOC already would have had to pause lethal injection executions after U.S. District Judge Debora Grasham ordered the department in April to provide audio and visual access for media witnesses during any executions. That decision comes as a First Amendment lawsuit from a coalition of news organizations moves forward in court, according to the AP. The Associated Press, The Idaho Statesman and East Idaho News sued the state's prison director in December, arguing that key steps of the lethal injection process were being unconstitutionally hidden from public view. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Demand for capital defense attorneys may soon skyrocket in Idaho due to new law
Earlier this year, Idaho legislators passed a bill to allow some cases of lewd conduct with child under age 12 with aggravating circumstances to be punishable by death, despite knowing the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled a similar law unconstitutional. (Getty Images) This story was first published by Idaho Reports on May 9, 2025. Earlier this year, Idaho legislators passed a bill to allow some cases of lewd conduct with child under age 12 with aggravating circumstances to be punishable by death, despite knowing the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled a similar law unconstitutional. The bill did not allocate any additional money for the Idaho State Public Defender's Office. Instead, the fiscal note says the office will have additional expenditures should a defendant be assigned a public defender by the court. This could be a major flaw. The challenge is more about more than just money. It's about meeting what is required by law and agency rules – and when the death penalty is a possible sentence, those requirements are stricter than other criminal defense cases. The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution entitles all criminal defendants to a public attorney if they cannot afford one. But prior state rule and national legal guidance say defendants who are facing the death penalty require more representation. The court grants those defendants a lead counselor and co-counselor, sometimes referred to as the second chair attorney. In 2024, prosecutors filed 382 charges of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16, according to Idaho Supreme Court data. That doesn't mean all of those led to convictions, and not all of those victims were 12 or younger. Compare that to the 30 first-degree murder charges filed in 2024, according to Idaho Supreme Court data. Until House Bill 380's passage, first-degree murder was the only crime punishable by death in Idaho. Not all 30 of those charges would have been death penalty cases, as some would not have had necessary aggravating circumstances or a plea agreement could have been reached. Still, that's less than one tenth of the charges filed of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16. Under the Public Defense Commission's now expired rules, any defendant who is charged with a crime that is potentially punishable by death required representation from a 'capital qualified defending attorney.' The new Idaho Office of the Public Defender hasn't yet adopted rules. Capital qualified attorneys have advanced familiarity with the laws around capital mitigation and jury selection methods. They also meet or exceed American Bar Association Guidelines and criminal defense experience. In an April interview with Idaho Reports, State Public Defender Eric Fredericksen said his understanding was that the Public Defense Commission's rules became defunct after his office opened, but added he was not part of that decision-making process. The Public Defense Commission first established rules in 2016 regarding caseloads and training for public defenders after a massive lawsuit, Tucker v. Idaho, found Idaho's public defense system to be insufficient. The lawsuit is what led Idaho to the eventual establishment of a statewide public defense system. Until the Idaho Office of the Public Defender opened in October 2024, individual counties funded public defense. Under the commission's rules, lead counsel in a capital case needed at least 10 years in criminal defense and felony jury experience and have served as lead or co-counsel in at least one tried capital case to verdict, among other requirements. Co-counsel must have at least five years in criminal defense and felony jury experience and have served as lead or co-counsel in at least one tried capital case to verdict, among other requirements. The new Idaho Office of the Public Defender has been following the guidelines of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, but has no formal state rules of its own. Those association guidelines require less criminal defense experience than the state's former rules, but still more than non-capital felony defense standards. A handful of national organizations offer trainings for capital cases, but Fredericksen notes that making the case for life, as it's often referred to by defense attorneys, is different in murder cases than it would be for lewd conduct cases. There's a playbook for defense attorneys in capital murder cases. Having the death penalty on the table for lewd conduct creates a different scenario. Why the extra rules? A person's life is on the line. As of April 23, Idaho had 13 attorneys who are qualified to be lead counsel on a capital case. Five are employees of the State Public Defender's Office and eight are private attorneys. There are an additional 18 Idaho attorneys who qualify to be second chair on a capital case. That means there are only 13 potential lawyers qualified to represent the people charged under the new crime of aggravated lewd conduct with a minor younger than age 12, on top of the other capital cases that may already be on their plates. Prosecutors won't necessarily seek the death penalty as punishment against every person who is charged with lewd conduct with a minor under 12, but the defense attorneys have an obligation to begin preparing as if it were at the time the charge is filing. 'The moment the charge of (aggravated lewd and lascivious) with a minor under 12 is filed, regardless of whether a death notice is filed, we will begin treating it as a death penalty case,' Fredericksen said. 'So, two attorneys will be handling the case, find a mitigation expert, we find an investigator. You have to start that work on Day 1 because the prosecution starts that work on Day 1.' Fredericksen's office remained neutral on the bill. He did write to sponsors Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, chairman of the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, and House Assistant Minority Leader Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, on March 14, stating that he did not have data on how many of the victims in cases they represented were 12 or younger, nor did he have data on how many of them had aggravating circumstances. On March 18, the State Appellate Public Defender Erik Lehtinen wrote a letter to Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee Chairman Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, and cc'd the bill's co-sponsors and Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee co-chairs Sen. Scott Grow and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, about concerns about the bill's potential impact on his office's budget. Idaho Reports obtained a copy of the letter. The State Appellate Public Defender's Office handles cases post-conviction for appeals. Lehtinen estimated his office would receive, on average, two capital lewd conduct cases a year, in addition to the capital murder case appeals his office already handles. 'I estimate that once the new death penalty scheme fully ramps up, the SAPD would require at least $2,948,000 in additional ongoing funding – a 72.2% increase to the SAPD's current annual appropriation,' wrote Lehtinen in his March 18 letter. That number included 14 new employees, litigation expenses and conflict costs. Lehtinen noted it did not include one-time costs, such as computers for the employees, or paying Idaho State Bar dues. 'This increase in capital cases would require the SAPD to hire at least 14 additional full-time employees in its Capital Litigation Unit: four lead attorneys, four 'second chair' attorneys, two investigators, two mitigation specialists and two administrative assistants or paralegals,' Lehtinen wrote. Fredericksen told Idaho Reports that because public defense is so reactive to what the prosecution does, he couldn't give a fiscal impact estimate. His office has begun accepting applications for attorneys who may have enough experience to become death penalty qualified. But if half of the lewd conduct charges filed in 2024 involved children under age 12, he said, Idaho doesn't have enough public, private, and civil attorneys to handle that case load. The Idaho Legislature approved an $83 million budget for Fredericksen's office for fiscal year 2026. About $32 million of that is an enhancement budget for needed personnel costs, institutional offices in Elmore, Shoshone, Jerome and Benewah counties and more funding for contract attorneys. The budget doesn't specifically single out allocations for more death penalty-qualified attorneys. When the new law goes into effect on July 1, it will create a new crime called 'aggravated lewd conduct under 16' which creates a new mandatory minimum of 25 years for the crime of lewd conduct with a child ages 13 to 15. The option of pursuing the death penalty would be left to the individual county prosecutor in cases where the child is 12 or younger. The crime of lewd conduct with a child under 16 is already punishable by life in prison. The bill outlines a series of 17 aggravating factors that make a suspect eligible for the death penalty, including the victim being kidnapped or trafficked, or the suspect engaging in the act three or more times. If a jury, or the court if a jury is waived, finds two aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt and if the death penalty is not sought, the court shall impose a life sentence with a minimum period of no less than 30 years in prison. Public defenders who testified in committee took issue with some of the items listed as aggravating factors, including if the defendant was in 'a position of trust' over the victim because that could be applicable to many sexual assaults of children. Public defenders also objected to including 'force or coercion' as an aggravating factor, as children cannot legally consent, so every case could arguably be 'force or coercion.' In committee, the Idaho Prosecutor's Association supported the list of aggravating circumstances, saying they were based off Florida and Tennessee's laws. 'I think it's fair to say that with the nature of the aggravating factors, a prosecutor could make a decision that just about every case would meet those aggravating factors,' Fredericksen said. 'Right or wrong, they could make the case to move forward with the aggravating factors under the statute.' Idaho legislators passed this law knowing that in the 2008 decision Kennedy v. Louisiana, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the death penalty for non-fatal sex crimes, even if the crime involved brutality and young children. Still, Florida passed a similar law in 2023, but to date, no one has been sentenced to death for child sexual assault. Instead, prosecutors have reached plea agreements with lesser punishments than executions, such as life in prison. Tennessee passed a law similar to Florida's in 2024, but it hasn't yet been used. During the session, Skaug repeatedly called the Idaho bill a 'test case' as the makeup of SCOTUS has changed since 2008. He also believes prosecutors will only use the charge for 'the worst of the worst.' Of the four justices who dissented in Kennedy v. Louisiana, three – Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas – are still on the bench. None of the five in the 2008 majority are currently serving. Regardless of the current court makeup, if someone is sentenced to death under this new law, it will almost certainly end up challenged in court. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Changes to parental rights law not taken up in Idaho House
The Idaho State Capitol building in Boise on Jan. 23, 2024. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun) This story was originally published by Idaho Reports on April 4, 2025. A fix to health care availability for children without parental consent, including the ability to undergo a sexual assault exam, may be off the table in 2025. The Senate voted 26-9 on Monday to move SB 1199aa forward to the House of Representatives. After being read on the House floor, the bill was routed to the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee. Chairman of the committee Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, told Idaho Reports on Thursday that his committee was 'closed until next year.' Without a public hearing in the House, the bill cannot move forward. The bill could have been run through another committee, such as the Ways and Means Committee, but that would be the decision of House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star. Moyle told Idaho Reports on Thursday afternoon after that he was unsure how he'd move forward, as he was already hearing about amendments that some people wanted to make to the bill. Moyle said Skaug would need to return the bill for it to go to Ways and Means. Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, R-Rupert, sponsored the 2024 law and brought the bill late in the session after talking to stakeholders. It would clarify that a child may receive medical care if there is concern for 'loss of life or aggravation of physiological or psychological illness.' The bill would also allow care if a minor 'is seeking health care or medical treatment … that is directly related to an allegation of a crime against the minor child or to collect evidence related to such crime when the collection of such evidence is time sensitive.' The change comes after the original law left some health care providers with concerns that juveniles couldn't receive rape kit examinations without parental permission. Anthon has repeatedly said this was not the intent of the 2024 bill, and it needs to be amended this year. The new bill also would allow first aid-related care in cases of minor injuries and illnesses, after some public school districts raised concerns in 2024. Additionally, the new bill states that if a juvenile is pregnant or has a child, health care providers may provide treatment without parental consent. Heath care providers could also diagnose pregnancy and provide prenatal or peripartum care without seeking parental consent, as long as the care complied with Idaho's laws banning abortion. Other changes in the bill would allow juveniles to access services of the Idaho crisis and suicide hotline, or services to help those who are experiencing mental health crisis and present 'imminent risk of serious injury to self or others.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Idaho U.S. Sen. Crapo blocks tariff bill days before Trump imposes tariffs on Canada, Mexico
U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) (R) and Ranking Member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) preside over a meeting as the committee votes to advance the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services on Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The full committee voted along party lines to advance the nomination to the entire Senate for confirmation. (Photo by) This story was first published by Idaho Reports on March 5, 2025. U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, blocked a bill Feb. 27 that would have prevented the president from imposing tariffs without Congressional consent on countries that are allies of the United States, calling the proposal 'too blunt of an instrument when nuance is called for.' The move came just days before President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on nearly all products imported from Canada and Mexico, the United States' biggest trading partners, prompting the two countries to say they would impose their own retaliatory tariffs on American products. The U.S. Senate bill, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, would have required Congress to sign off before a president could impose tariffs on free trade partners or allies. Coons asked for unanimous consent to pass the bill during a Feb. 27 floor session, but Crapo, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, blocked the request. During his remarks on the Senate floor, Crapo said he agrees with Coons on several trade issues, including the need for the United States to negotiate more free trade agreements like the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, or USMCA. 'I also agree that we should not undertake tariff actions lightly, on our allies or on free trade agreement partners,' Crapo continued. 'We should, however, take care before we say that all options are completely off the table. In fact, all of our free trade agreements provide exceptions for when parties can remove economic benefits, including on national security grounds.' Trump has repeatedly cited the flow of fentanyl into the United States as the reason for imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico. While authorities seized more than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl at the southern border during the 2024 fiscal year, they discovered just 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border, seizing less than a pound some months, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. As of the end of January, authorities have seized only 10 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border for the 2025 federal fiscal year, which runs from October through September. 'Tariffs are appropriate tools if used in the right way, and can be a useful means of balancing unfair trade practices and opening foreign markets to U.S. exports,' Crapo wrote in an email comment to Idaho Reports. 'We want to avoid any unnecessary actions that would harm families recovering from four years of inflation under the previous Administration. President Trump makes a strong case that his tariff policies and other economic reforms will recover our economy from the Biden era's mistakes.' This isn't the first time in recent months Idaho's senior U.S. senator has mentioned tariffs. According to Politico, Crapo took a 'cautious stance' on tariffs during a December Senate Finance Committee hearing, saying he wanted to hear more about Trump's plans before attacking them. 'I think that we all agree that tariffs are appropriate tools if used in the right way, and we all agree that there is a wrong use of tariffs, and we'll get into that as we move through the next three or four years,' Crapo said. During a February nomination hearing for the now-confirmed United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Crapo mentioned the importance of having someone in the USTR position who could report to Congress on international trade issues, especially when the president imposes tariffs. 'The executive orders (on tariffs) rely on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, and concern drug policy and border security. The President, not USTR, invokes IEEPA, and the Department of Homeland Security, not USTR, is responsible for securing our borders,' Crapo said during the hearing. 'What the president has done that is different, though, is bringing tariffs into the discussions about border security,' Crapo said. 'USTR is… America's chief trade negotiator. Any time the U.S. government is considering tariffs or something that implicates trade policy, (the trade representative) should be part of those conversations, and report to us about those conversations and solicit our input.' Also in February, Crapo published a column outlining trade policy priorities, including negotiating trade agreements that are fair to the United States and help Idaho producers. 'The United States must resume negotiating real, comprehensive trade deals that expand market access for Idaho producers, protect Idaho interests competing abroad and thoughtfully reduce those tariffs that help our manufacturers, businesses and consumers,' Crapo wrote. In 2018, during the first Trump administration, Idaho producers lost millions due to retaliatory tariffs from Mexico: An estimated $15.4 million in potato exports under a 20% tariff, $14.4 million in cheese and whey due to the 25% tariff, and $1.1 million in export revenue from pork and ham due to an added 20% tariff, said Fabiola McClellan, then-head of Idaho's Mexico City-based foreign trade office, in a February 2019 press release. Mexico put those tariffs in place in response to the United States placing tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico. The same press release said overall exports from Idaho to Mexico stayed steady in 2018. 'We are very relieved to see that the numbers have somehow remained even,' McClellan said at the time. 'And a lot of that is due to hardworking Idaho companies. … We need to protect our market down there very carefully.' The United States reached a deal with both Canada and Mexico in May 2019 to remove retaliatory tariffs. Currently, Canada is Idaho's top export partner, with exports to the country totaling almost $1.5 billion in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available. Food and agriculture products accounted for one fourth of that total, at $383 million, according to the Idaho Department of Commerce. Idaho also imports a number of goods from Canada, including $360 million worth of food and agriculture products in 2023, and $272 million in wood, pulp and paper products. In 2023, Idaho imported nearly $169 million worth of goods from Mexico, with food and agriculture accounting for about $68 million of that total, as well as $61.5 million of transportation equipment, according to the Department of Commerce. Mexico is Idaho's third largest export partner, with exports to Mexico totaling $284 million in 2023. Food and agriculture accounted for 88% of Idaho's exports to the country. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Idaho House committee advances ABLE account proposal for adults with disabilities
The rotunda at the Idaho State Capitol building in Boise as seen on March 23, 2021. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun) This story was first published by Idaho Reports on Feb. 5, 2025. The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee moved forward a bill to allow disabled people to establish ABLE accounts. 'ABLE,' an acronym for Achieving a Better Life Experience, allows people with disabilities who collect Social Security Income to save money for future qualifying needs, such as transportation, housing or medical expenses. Currently, Idahoans are in jeopardy of no longer qualifying for Social Security Income if they have more than $2,000 in their accounts, which discourages them from saving for expenses like car repair, or medical care that isn't covered by insurance. The money in ABLE accounts doesn't count against the $2,000. Only people whose disability began before the age of 26 are eligible for ABLE accounts. Idaho, South Dakota and North Dakota are the only three states in the country that currently do not have ABLE accounts, according to state Treasurer Julie Ellsworth, who sponsored the bill on Wednesday. Hailey mother Brittany Shipley testified in favor of the bill, saying ABLE accounts could help her children with disabilities live independently one day. 'The current system forces individuals to navigate a paradox,' Shipley said. 'If they save or earn too much money, they lose access to critical services like Medicaid or SSI. This means the risk losing critical services they rely on to prevent institutionalization – a choice no one should have to make. This is where ABLE accounts make a profound difference.' The bill has no additional cost to the state, and will establish an Idaho ABLE Account Advisory Council to advise the Idaho State treasurer and the executive director of the Idaho State Independent Living Council regarding policies and action that enhance the outreach, marketing, and education of the Idaho ABLE Account Program. The only 'no' vote came from Rep. Lucas Cayler, R-Caldwell, who said he voted against it in the spirit of not expanding government. The bill must now head to the full House of Representatives for a vote. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
