Law to limit solitary confinement

OTTAWA— The federal government introduced legislation Monday to restrict the use of solitary confinement inside federal prisons and to better protect prisoners with mental illness or at risk of self-harm or suicide.

Once passed, the bill would — for the first time — impose a so-called legislative framework establishing a time limit for what prison officials call administrative segregation.

The bill — part of the Liberals’ broader efforts at criminal justice reform, which include reducing the number of Indigenous Canadians behind bars — was introduced with a week left in the spring parliamentary calendar, meaning it’s unlikely to come up for debate before fall.

It also comes after several highprofile solitary confinement cases, including the 2007 death of Ashley Smith of Moncton, N.B., an emotionally disturbed 19-year-old who died in custody after tying a strip of cloth around her neck.

A coroner’s inquest into Smith’s death ended in 2012 with 104 recommendations, including a call to end to “indefinite solitary confinement” and the use of segregation beyond 15 days for female inmates with mental-health issues.

Shortly after taking office in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered Justice Minister Jody WilsonRaybould to take second look at the Smith inquest’s recommendations as part of her mandate to implement criminal justice reforms.

In her mandate letter, Trudeau asked Wilson-Raybould to work on “implementation of recommendations from the inquest into the death of Ashley Smith regarding the restriction of the use of solitary confinement and the treatment of those with mental illness.”

Administrative segregation is used when there is no reasonable alternative to maintain the safety and security of the institution, staff and inmates. It differs from disciplinary segregation, which is applied to inmates who are found guilty of a serious offence in custody.