B.C. association files lawsuit to stop practices akin to solitary confinement
A B.C. association has filed a lawsuit against the federal government in the hope of stopping practices it says are not unlike solitary confinement.
In a statement Wednesday, the BC Civil Liberties Association said it hoped the lawsuit would stop wardens and federal prisons from isolating people using lockdowns and "restrictive movement routines."
The organization alleges these practices are used to lock down institutions as a whole or to set restrictive schedules "that isolate people to their cells for days, weeks and months at a time."
"We know that isolating people indefinitely has devastating impacts on their physical and mental health. It dramatically increases the risk of suicide," said Megan Tweedie, senior counsel for BCCLA, in a news release.
"Long-term solitary confinement by any name cannot be allowed to continue."
The BCCLA claims in its lawsuit that prisons don't have the authority to introduce indefinite lockdowns and restrictive movement routines, and argues the practices violate charter rights.
In 2019, the BCCLA challenged an administration segregation law and won.
"The administrative segregation law is gone, but, tragically, solitary confinement is not," said Grace Pastine, BCCLA's litigation director, in the release.
"We're going back to court because no one deserves to be held in such inhumane and degrading conditions … it's time to end this broken and dangerous system which causes extreme and sometimes permanent harm to the people who endure it."
The lawsuit will be heard in B.C. Supreme Court.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.