ARTICLE · 04 JULY 2017

The Fight Against Solitary Confinement

Devry Smith Frank LLP

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The issue of solitary confinement has been long-standing in Canada. Solitary confinement is meant to be ordered on a temporary basis, not on an indefinite one.

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Devry Smith Frank LLP

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The issue of solitary confinement has been long-standing in Canada. Solitary confinement is meant to be ordered on a temporary basis, not on an indefinite one. In recent years, the issue has come to the forefront, after several Canadian inmates committed suicide while in solitary.

Ten years ago, Ashley Smith, a 19 year-old inmate in solitary, strangled herself to death in her cell while prison guards watched and videotaped it. Smith spent a total of 1,047 days in solitary confinement, and had been placed on high suicide watch. Unquestionably, Smith's lengthy stay in solitary was a contributing factor in her suicide.

Calls to limit the segregation of prisoners grew much louder after Smith's 2007 death, but unfortunately, the problem has persisted.

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