C. Segregation
The purpose of administrative segregation is to keep prisoners from associating with the general prisoner population. Although its purpose is set out in s. 31 of the CCRA, administrative segregation is nowhere defined in the CCRA. It is implied in s. 31 that segregation is an environment which restricts association; however, the degree of restriction and the conditions of confinement are not articulated. The lack of definition of administrative segregation has resulted in the establishment of ranges which are segregated from the general population of the prisons, but which are not called administrative segregation. The unfortunate consequence of this approach is that the statutory means to review a prisoner's segregated status, as laid out in ss. 33-34 of the CCRA, is not engaged. Confinement in administrative segregation is an especially onerous form of confinement. It limits association with other prisoners, restricts movement within the penitentiary, especially program and work areas and provides few if any program opportunities. Access to outdoor exercise areas is also reduced to one hour a day. Such restrictions have been characterised as a "prison within a prison". As a result, such severe restrictions on prisoners' residual liberty interest(s) must be justified in accordance with the statutory criteria for placement in segregation (s. 31). The CCRA itself acknowledges the necessity of controls over the use of administrative segregation by providing for a statutory review of segregated status. Section 73 confers a statutory entitlement on prisoners to associate with each other, which can be denied only if the statutory criteria for removal from the general population in s. 31 is applied. In fact s. 73 stipulates that, "Inmates are entitled to reasonable opportunities to assemble peacefully and associate with other inmates within the penitentiary, subject to such reasonable limits as are prescribed for protecting the security of the penitentiary or the safety of persons". In the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, approximately 12 women are currently confined in a separate unit. This unit has 5 small ranges. Women are kept in groups of 2, 3 or 4 on separate ranges and do not associate. One woman is often confined on a range by herself. CSC does not consider these conditions to be administrative segregation. Consequently, the segregation review provisions of the CCRA are not applied. It is, of course, impossible to regularly deliver programs or provide any meaningful work to prisoners living in those conditions. CAEFS believes that under the CCRA, a small group of women living in a separate unit of a men's prison and kept separate from each other in small groups of 2 or 3 cannot be considered living in the general population of that prison. They must therefore be recognized as living in segregated units in the men's prisons.
|