BC court of appeal upheld a lower court ending Canadian law allowing solitary confinement saying “offends the fundamental norms of a free and democratic society”
British Columbia’s Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court ruling that struck down Canada’s solitary confinement law.
The Appeal Court ruled unanimously that a law that allows for the prolonged and indefinite use of segregation in prison “offends the fundamental norms of a free and democratic society.”
The federal government appealed the B.C. Supreme Court’s ruling of the legal challenge brought by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the John Howard Society of Canada.
The Appeal Court allowed the appeal in part, saying that while the law should be struck down under section seven of the charter, it should not be struck down under section 15.
I think that while the application of solitary confinement should be very selective, there are some valid applications.
In a number of cases, troublesome or violent prisoners have been sent to ADX Florence for limited terms and then sent back to regular high security. It has proven effective in pacifying such prisoners.
And frankly, there are certain prisoners that are just so extremely violent, so extremely dangerous, that long term segregation for OTHER prisoners and guards safety may be the only recourse.
Now I do realize that there are many prisoners that have been subjected to solitary confinement unjustly or unnecessarily and we should move to put an end to that.
Canadian federal judges are appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Canadian federal cabinet. Upper level provincial judges are appointed the same way, lower level provincial judges are appointed by the province.
The committee rule is very nice they bring in the people from both sides political and pick the best people for the job. for the last Superme court judge the committee was mostly former judges, former Crown attorneys or top level legal scholars.
so we don’t have “stacking” picking judges is much less political in Canada.
I would agree but the issue as it has become a punishment for minor behavior violations and over used, there are some inmates who are a danger and should be locked up without interaction, but a lot of cases is untreatment mental health issues, etc that are cause of troubled behavior.
one of the best thing about having a Queen is exucative branch of government both Federally and Provincially is completely nonpartisan their whole job is to be nonpartisan.
