By Anna Mehler Paperny – Reuters
Like a growing number of formerly incarcerated Indigenous people, Marvin Starblanket’s life is still governed by Correctional Service Canada rules.
incarceration
Rights groups fight Canada government’s defense of solitary confinement
June 21, 2018 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Reuters
Canadian law allows for prolonged, indefinite solitary confinement that hurts vulnerable people most and that is why it must be struck down, lawyers for civil liberties groups argued this week, as they accused the government of backing away from its avowed goal of pursuing prison reform.
Exclusive: Black accused in Ontario wait longer behind bars than white people charged with the same crimes
October 19, 2017 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Reuters
TORONTO (Reuters) – Black people in Canada’s most populous province spent longer behind bars awaiting trial than white people charged with many of the same categories of crimes in each of the past five years, according to data obtained by Reuters.
Canada’s jailhouse secret: Legally innocent prisoners are dying
August 3, 2017 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Reuters
Nearly 270 people have died in Canadian provincial jails over the past five years. Two-thirds of them were legally innocent.
Magnotta trial: Not criminally responsible myths, debunked
September 30, 2014 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
Luka Magnotta has said he killed and dismembered Chinese student Jun Lin, but is seeking a designation of NCR – not criminally responsible.
If Magnotta is found not criminally responsible it would mean a mental disorder was behind his actions. Instead of going to prison, he would go to a forensic hospital where he’s kept and treated for however long it takes until the illness is abated and he’s no longer a danger to the public (or himself).
Canada’s failing to prevent inmate suicides, watchdog finds
September 10, 2014 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
Canada’s federal prisons are continuing practices known to make inmates more likely to kill themselves – and then failing to properly measure or report these suicides, a watchdog report finds.
Ontario’s short-staffed jails face chronic lockdowns
September 8, 2014 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
Ontario jails have become so short-staffed they’re routinely locked down because there aren’t enough guards to keep them running safely.
Mentally ill inmate isn’t a dangerous offender, judge finds
July 25, 2014 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
Marlene Carter, a 43-year-old inmate with severe mental illness who’s spent much of her five years behind bars tied to a plank, bed or chair in a solitary cell, is not a dangerous offender, a judge has ruled.
Some mentally ill inmates face solitary confinement by another name
July 24, 2014 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
Special designations for federal inmates with the most complex psychiatric needs often result in their being kept in what is, effectively, solitary confinement – just don’t call it that.
Tied down in solitary for years, is sick inmate a dangerous offender?
a business of misfits 