Achi news desk-
A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has ruled that constant lockdowns at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility more than a month ago were illegal and deprived an inmate of his liberty.
According to a written decision dated May 1, Justice Peter P. Rosinski ruled that inmate Ryan Wilband “experienced a material deprivation of his residual liberty” due to regular lockdowns between March 17 and April 8.
Rosinski specifically ruled that Wilband be deprived of liberty on March 17, March 18, March 19, March 25, April 2, and April 3, stating that the prisoner is allowed out of his cell for a maximum of five hours and a half at most on one day and less than two and a half hours at least on another day.
“Advanced Correctional Services staff made the decisions to reduce the unlocking times for the prisoners in question legally – ie, there was a legal basis for doing so and the process used to make those decisions was procedurally fair enough, however however I see that stated. certain daily consequences were not reasonable,” Rosinski wrote in the decision. “Let me add here, to the extent that shortages of staff can be foreseen, and in my opinion in the case of Mr Wilband, there is a commensurate corresponding obligation on Correctional Services staff to take all reasonable steps to ensure that these shortages exist. not happening, in order to avoid a result such as a significant reduction in the normal daily time prisoners are out of the cell.”
Earlier this year, Rosinski ruled that Wilband and fellow inmate Durrell Diggs experienced “sustained material deprivation” of their liberty during their incarceration last fall. The judge ruled that Wilband was confined to his cell for “extremely long periods each day” between October 31 and November 28 due to staff shortages.
In the written decision, Rosinski cited testimony from Chief Superintendent Jeffrey Awalt, who outlined a plan to reduce the stress of understaffing. The decision noted that the facility could have “full staffing supply estimated by July 2024.”
“Chief Superintendent Awalt provided what I saw as encouraging details that the plan, in the near to medium term, would have a clear impact on improving the staff shortage problem at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, ” Rosinkski wrote.
-With files from The Canadian Press
