Jails fall short of standards for time in solitary

Reasons for using segregation don’t always meet criteria: review

Correctional staff don’t always use proper criteria when putting inmates in solitary confinement, according to an internal government review of administrative segregation in Saskatchewan.

The review noted the reasons provided for segregating inmates in provincial jails are often “hard to defend against the legislated criteria.”

The Leader-Post obtained an interim version of the review from 2016 through a Freedom of Information request.

The document also revealed that a large number of prisoners held in segregation are dealing with mental health issues, with some spending months in isolated conditions that sometimes fall short of international norms.

Managers audited 458 inmate case files to examine who is spending time in solitary confinement, and why. They focused on administrative segregation. Unlike its disciplinary cousin, administrative segregation isn’t meant to punish prisoners for infractions committed behind bars. It’s intended to keep jails safe.

Provincial legislation sets out a narrow set of criteria for its use: If keeping an inmate in general population could threaten the jail’s security, an ongoing investigation or the inmate’s own safety, then administrative segregation is an option. Even then, the law makes it a last resort.

Those safeguards are important because, unlike in disciplinary cases, there is no upper limit on how long prisoners can be segregated for administrative reasons. Indian Posse co-founder Richard Wolfe, for instance, spent 640 consecutive days in the hole.

But the review concludes that correctional staff do not seem to have “a clear understanding of what is required to place or maintain an inmate in segregation.”

“Some of the documented reasons do not meet the legislated criteria,” it notes.

It also suggests that staff might not be ruling out other options before resorting to solitary confinement.

“We are especially weak at documenting the consideration of reasonable alternatives at the time of placement,” the review adds.

Those conclusions stem from a detailed breakdown of the reasons officials provided in those 458 case files, each of which involved at least one stint in administrative segregation over an unspecified three-month period. While a large number of cases involved “violent and aggressive behaviour” or gang activity, others were more difficult to justify.

In 39 cases, correctional workers mentioned “disruptive or non-compliant behaviour” as the reason for placement in administrative segregation. “Disciplinary infractions” were cited 49 times, despite the fact that the measure is not supposed to be punitive.

Ministry of Justice spokesman Drew Wilby noted the review is only a draft. He said the “onus” is now on the ministry to make sure it’s accurate and to ensure staff are following “proper protocols and direction.”

He pointed to reforms made since the cases covered by the review. Provincial jails have moved from paper to an electronic database, for instance, which he thinks might improve the documentation of appropriate reasons.

But Wilby stressed that some of the reasons could be read in different ways. Cases of disruptive behaviour could include threats to security, like “manipulating other inmates to act out.” As for disciplinary infractions processed through the administrative framework, he said the ministry plans to do a “deep dive” to “look at what may have occurred and what could have been done differently.”

In the document it provided to the Leader-Post, the ministry censored data on two other rationales. It also redacted a summary of the results. When questioned about this decision, an information officer responded that they had initially intended to censor all of the data on reasons, but released information on 13 categories due to an “oversight.”

The document revealed that 82 per cent of the inmates the audit examined were Aboriginal. Nearly 40 per cent were younger than 25. More than half were remanded, which means they had not been convicted and sentenced.

According to his own account, Bronson Gordon was on remand when he went to the hole. He said he spent time in segregation in Regina and Saskatoon correctional centres while awaiting trial for murder.

Gordon said his time in segregation, particularly in Regina, was tough on his mental health. He said he attempted suicide during one of his stints. “It just increases the depression,” he said. “It increases the worthlessness of your life.”

The review notes that 46 per cent of segregated inmates at Saskatoon Correctional Centre have mental health diagnoses. At Pine Grove, the women’s jail in Prince Albert, the figure stands at 70 per cent. Forty-two inmates were in administrative segregation for “suicide watch.”

Wilby said that the work on the new Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford will increase options available to the ministry to treat inmates with mental health issues. He also noted that there is a medical care review underway for correctional facilities.

Wilby also addressed the review’s finding that Saskatchewan’s use of segregation does not meet all international standards on “conditions of confinement” — the so-called “Mandela rules.” He said the rules are important, but not legally binding. Nonetheless, the ministry will is looking into the issues and recognizes the importance of trying to be compliant.

Currently, the province is meeting 15 of the 20 Mandela rules, according to the review.

One states that prisoners “shall have at least one hour of suitable exercise in the open air daily if the weather permits.” But at Regina Correctional Centre, inmates in segregation only have access to a “Fresh Air Room,” described as “an enclosed room with a window that can be opened to let in a draft.”

Another rule prohibits “indefinite” or “prolonged” stints in segregation, something the review suggests happens frequently. The UN’s special rapporteur on torture has mentioned 15 days as a hard ceiling. But about a quarter of the inmates covered by the review served terms of more than 60 days.

In some of those cases, the review suggests, segregation could be avoided through more funding, better training and improved “buy-in” from staff.

A long list of “reasonable alternatives” to solitary confinement explores the possibility of a dedicated therapeutic unit in provincial prisons. It also mentions the option of more frequent psychiatric visits.

Strategies like case management, mediation and “behaviour contracts” might also be feasible, but only if staff are “adequately skilled” in problem solving and conflict resolution. Federal inmates, the review suggests, could be assessed on an individual basis, rather than heading to segregation automatically upon entering the provincial system.

Wilby said there is “a lot of value” in some of those suggestions. As the review process goes forward, he said, the ministry will be looking at “stronger checks, stronger balances and some stronger training if required.”

But Wilby said he’ll need to consult with the report writers to figure out what they meant by their primary recommendation. The review stresses that the ministry will need to address overcrowding throughout the system to get a handle on the segregation problem. It recommends a review of the province’s population management strategy.

Wilby acknowledged that population numbers are high in provincial jails, but he said the review doesn’t indicate that inmates are kept in segregation because there’s nowhere else to send them.

When pressed, he said he couldn’t be certain that it never happens.

“I would have to do a fairly significant dive into that, an individual file review, to make that determination,” he said.