Is segregation being abused in Canadian prisons?
This week, the Harper government rejected calls to limit the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons. This came in response to recommendations stemming from the inquest into Ashley Smith's suicide. Brent speaks with Canada's prisoner Ombudsman Howard Sapers about isolating prisoners and his concerns with the practice.
This week, the Harper government rejected calls to limit the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons. This came in response to recommendations stemming from the inquest into Ashley Smith's suicide. The 19-year-old killed herself in 2007 while she was an inmate at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario. She had spent over two-thousand days in isolation, and was described as mentally unstable. Brent speaks with Canada's prisoner Ombudsman Howard Sapers about isolating prisoners and his concerns with the practice.