MONTREAL — A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class\u002Daction lawsuit on behalf of federal prisoners in Quebec who were held in segregation units for…
The transfer “caused the plaintiff to experience symptoms of depression and increased anxiety attacks; he now requires psychological counselling,” Fournier’s lawyers Justin Wee, Justine Monty and Alain Arsenault wrote in their request for a class action.
“Detainees placed in solitary confinement can suffer psychological and physical disorders that can be long-lasting and irreversible from the very first day of isolation,” they write. “Prolonged isolation has negative consequences on the detainee’s reintegration into the prison population, on his rehabilitation and increases the risk of recidivism.”
The federal government argued against allowing the class action, telling the court that Fournier doesn’t have grounds for a lawsuit as an individual, let alone as part of a class action. Justice Department lawyers argued that significant changes were made to segregation units in November 2019 after courts in British Columbia and Ontario found that solitary confinement for more than 15 days was unconstitutional.
Court documents indicate they said inmates held in the new facilities, called Structured Intervention Units, are able to spend four hours a day outside their cell, including two hours during which they have opportunities to interact with other people. This means, they argued, that the new system doesn’t involve solitary confinement — defined by the United Nations as being alone in a cell for at least 22 hours a day — and that even extended periods in an SIU are constitutional.
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