Inmates say dangerous conditions inside understaffed Nova Scotia jail violate rights

Inmates at a Halifax-area jail say their rights have been violated by months-long rolling lockdowns, as correctional officers refuse work because of dangerous conditions.

Inmates at a Halifax-area jail say their rights have been violated by months-long rolling lockdowns, as correctional officers refuse work because of dangerous conditions in the provincial detention centre.

A series of complaints recently brought before the Nova Scotia Supreme Court tell a similar story: inmates locked in their cells for extended periods, sometimes 23 hours a day, because of staff shortages at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility.

The details are included in complaints known as habeas corpus applications, in which a judge assesses the conditions of a person’s confinement. The purpose is to determine whether a detainee’s Charter rights have been violated and they should be granted a remedy, such as more time out of their cell.

At least eight complaints have been made since April, offering a rare glimpse into the violent, isolating conditions in the 370-bed Halifax-area facility, also known as the Burnside jail.

Mark Keenan’s habeas corpus application said he was regularly locked in his cell at the jail for more than 22 hours a day.

Justice Joshua Arnold concluded in a June 19 ruling that Keenan had been locked in his cell once for 31 hours straight, adding that the inmate was rarely let out for 12 hours a day, which is the “unwritten target” at the jail. Arnold acknowledged the “havoc” the lockdowns have caused in the jail’s daily schedule.

“Calls to lawyers have been impacted,” he wrote. “Visitation has been impacted. Meals have been impacted. Tensions are high.”

Inmate-on-inmate intimidation and violence, as well as inmate attacks on staff, “leads to more lockdowns and more staffing shortages,” the judge wrote.