Nova Scotia judges describes rising violence, tension in Halifax-area provincial jail

CITYnews halifax \ By Michael Tutton The Canadian Press

HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia judge’s ruling released Friday sheds light on rising violence and intimidation among inmates in a Halifax jail.

Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Jamie Campbell denied a request from inmate Isaac deMolitar to be given more time outside his cell at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility.

Campbell noted that rules imposed on inmates in March limiting their time outside their cells were reasonable given dangerous behaviour at the provincial jail on the outskirts of Halifax.

A system of “rotational lockdowns” allows for 16 inmates to be out of their cells on the unit at a time and gives inmates six hours out of cell each day — down from the usual 12 hours.

Campbell noted evidence from the facility’s deputy superintendent, Rachel Critchley, that the reasons for the rotating lockdowns go back to early March when “there were incidents of violence in the West 1 unit,” the jail’s only general population unit.

The judge noted that assaults were observed on security cameras resulting in a variety of injuries, including two inmates who had to be taken to hospital.

Campbell said inmates arriving on the unit were being forced to leave by other inmates “for no apparent reasons.”

“There were no known ‘incompatibles.’ Those are people who have issues from the street with people already in that unit. That was not the case. They were not people who had sex-related offences on their records, nor had they been charged with sex-related offences,” he said.

“Assaults were being carried out by people who were strangers to them.”

The judge said corrections staff tried to meet and discuss the problems with inmates, but five days later, on April 9, an assault happened in the day room involving seven inmates. A series of lockdowns confining inmates to their cells continued.

Campbell ruled that corrections managers don’t have “free rein” to ignore the rights of inmates, but neither do those incarcerated “run the jails.”

“They do not decide who is to be housed where and who is ‘acceptable’ to have on a range. They do not have the right to administer punishment to those who fail to respect the rules set by the inmates and do not have the right to intimidate those who just want to do their time without becoming wrapped up in someone else’s street beefs or desire to be seen as a ‘heavy’ in the facility,” he wrote.

Deborah Bayer, a spokeswoman for the provincial Department of Justice, wrote in an email that the “safety of persons in custody in Nova Scotia correctional facilities is a priority.”

She noted the corrections officers use various security measures to keep individuals safe and prevent violence, and that “the facility is not currently overcrowded.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2023.