The return of a potentially violent young man to the NS Youth Facility in Waterville after he spent a year in solitary confinement in an adult prison has prison workers worried, the Chronicle Herald reported yesterday. But there is much the Herald left out, and much that the government has to answer for.
A new poem by El Jones. TRIGGER WARNING: 80-90 percent of women in prison are victims of physical and sexual assault. Yet because they are “criminals” what happens to them at the hands of the system must be something they deserve. When we talk about injustice to rape victims in Canadian courts where are their stories?
A youth who has been held in what is effectively solitary confinement for a year should be returned to the Nova Scotia Youth Facility in Waterville, Justice Anne Derrick has recommended. But the final decision is up to the Department of Justice. And it looks like it may want to continue the status quo. This will compromise the young man’s treatment and rehabilitation, and negatively affect his fragile mental health, Justice Derrick says.
The City of Halifax is not following up on a recommendation around criminal record checks that would remove obstacles to hiring Black and Indigenous workers in its Municipal Operations Programs (MOPS) division. The policy hasn’t really changed, and the City’s employment website is as uninviting to people with even a trivial criminal record as it has always been..
I went to yesterday’s Prisoners’ Justice Day event in the Halifax North End public library. Two full hours of information on prisons in Nova Scotia, not easy to summarize, and I am not even trying, to be honest. I just offer some fragments here, there is so much to learn.
A message from behind bars, in recognition of Prisoners’ Justice Day, the day many prisoners refuse work and food to honor the memory of inmates who died while in custody and in protest to inhumane practices such as solitary confinement.
“Keep in mind Canada is a leading country on the world stage but incarcerates some of the most people, and its justice system is a revolving door for those coming from marginalized communities and impoverished environments which leaves some of us forgotten, swept under the rug, and overlooked in life located in the so-called correctional facilities in this land of the free.”
This month’ Nova Scotia Barristers Society’s newsletter contains a powerful segment of essays and poems written by people in prison, and guest edited by El Jones, with help from guest editor “R”. You definitely should check it out.
Dashonn States was only 22 years young when he died this June as the result of a single car crash. Dashonn was merely a passenger, not the driver, but his family says even after his death he continues to face racism and disrespect as the case winds its way through the court system. This morning a rally at the Windsor courthouse demanded justice and respect for Dashonn’s memory.
A survey about matters vitally important to the African Nova Scotian community was sent to all provincial candidates. We talked with Jalana Lewis, spokesperson for the initiative, and posted the survey on line.
An anonymous Chronicle Herald reporter does a story on prison conditions and high long distance charges prisoners face without talking to anybody except the Department of Justice spokesperson.