Advocate calls for greater transparency after five child deaths in New Brunswick
At least five New Brunswick children whose families were known to protective workers have died, but little is known about their deaths. Continue reading
Ashley Smith
Woman who put 14-month-old in boiling oven denied parole in Alabama
Alabama’s parole board is refusing to release a woman convicted of putting her 14-month-old daughter into a hot oven in 2002. Continue reading
Inmate found dead in Grand Valley Institution
Correctional Service Canada says a woman serving a sentence for first-degree murder has died in an Ontario prison. Continue reading
‘People go to prison for punishment not to be punished’: advocates await Saskatchewan review of solitary confinement
The Ministry of Justice is reviewing a controversial tool used in Saskatchewan jails called administrative segregation, also known federally as solitary confinement. Continue reading
Ontario watchdog calls for end to solitary confinement for youth for more than 24h
It’s time to stop locking young people in solitary confinement for days at a time, says Ontario’s Advocate for Children and Youth. Continue reading
2 suicides at same N.S. women’s prison ‘raises a lot of red flags’: ombudsman
By Ross Lord Global National Atlantic Correspondent
Camille Strickland-Murphy’s suicide at the Nova Institute for Women followed the death of another woman, in April, who was serving time at the same prison. Continue reading
Inmates with mental illness subject to ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’ suit alleges
A Toronto law firm has launched a class action suit against the federal government over the treatment of prison inmates with mental illness. Continue reading
Canada looking at ‘new model’ for solitary confinement: top prison official
The country’s top prison official says Canada is working on a “new model” for solitary confinement, in the wake of criticisms over the government’s handling of mentally ill inmates such as Ashley Smith. Continue reading
‘I don’t know what the next step is’: Ashley Smith’s mom on Corrections Canada response
Ashley Smith’s mother says she doesn’t know what to do next after the Correctional Service of Canada said it was “unable to fully support” a coroner’s recommendation to stop putting inmates in segregation. Continue reading
Feds’ response to Ashley Smith inquest panned as cynical, inadequate
Prisoner advocates and human rights activists expressed dismay Friday at the federal government’s rejection of recommendations from a lengthy inquest into the videotaped choking death of Ashley Smith Continue reading