$20M fine for placing mentally ill in solitary
an ontario judge has ordered the federal government to pay $20 million for placing mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement, with the money earmarked to boost mental health supports in correctional facilities.
In a ruling issued this week, ontario superior court Justice Paul Perell said the correctional service of canada violated the charter rights of thousands of inmates who filed a classaction lawsuit against the agency over its use of administrative segregation.
Perell found those who were involuntarily placed in administrative segregation for more than 30 days, or voluntarily for more than 60, experienced a systemic breach of their rights under the charter of rights and Freedoms.
“the placement of a seriously mentally ill inmate in administrative segregation goes beyond what is necessary to achieve the genuine and legitimate aim of securing the safety of the institution,” he wrote.
“It does not accord with public standards of decency or propriety in the treatment of a mentally ill inmate. It is also unnecessary because there could have been alternative ways less draconian than the equivalent of solitary confinement to address a security concern, and an indeterminate time to resolve a security concern cannot be justified.”
those who were in segregation for less than 30 days can still make claims later in the case.
the judge says the $20 million sum will go to “additional mental health or program resources” in the penal system as well as legal fees.
“the funds are to remedy to the harm caused to society which has suffered from the correctional service’s failure to comply with the charter and also its failure to comply with the spirit of the corrections and conditional release act and its purpose of rehabilitating mentally ill inmates to return to society rather than worsening their capacity to do so by the harm caused by prolonged solitary confinement,” Perell wrote in his ruling.
the correctional service of canada said it is reviewing the decision and declined to comment further.
administrative segregation has faced legal challenges in ontario and British columbia, both of which found extended solitary confinement to be unconstitutional because of the absence of a meaningful review process.
ontario’s top court has given ottawa until april 30 to fix its solitary confinement law, while B.c.'s has extended the deadline to June 17.
the government has pointed to Bill c-83, now before the senate, which eliminates administrative segregation and replaces it with “structured intervention units” meant to emphasize “meaningful human contact” for inmates and improve their access to programs and services.