Latest news with #CorrectionalService
CTV News
4 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Federal inmates allege pandemic ill treatment in class-action lawsuit
The Law Courts building, which is home to B.C. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, is seen in Vancouver, on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press) The British Columbia Supreme Court says a lawsuit by prison inmates alleging ill treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic can move forward as a class action against the federal government. Inmates claim they were 'subject to inhumane rights restrictions' during the pandemic, including being confined to cells for 20 hours or more each day without meaningful contact with other people. Plaintiff Dean Roberts, a multiple murderer incarcerated at B.C.'s Mission Institution, says in an affidavit the pandemic brought 'chaos' as pandemic measures sent prisoners into despair, including one who sewed his lips shut. The ruling says the Attorney General of Canada opposed certifying the lawsuit as a class action for several reasons, arguing the Correctional Service of Canada's response to the pandemic was medically necessary. It says arguments over the 'unprecedented and unexpected nature of the pandemic' are issues to be decided by a trial, rejecting the federal government's claim that inmates should pursue individual lawsuits instead of banding together as a class. Justice Michael Tammen's ruling says inmates 'frequently face inordinate hurdles' in the courts, being without the financial means to file individual lawsuits, and class actions are often their only realistic means to legally challenge conditions of confinement. Lawyer Patrick Dudding says he welcomes the court's decision and he and his associates are now tasked with getting the word out to current and former inmates to join the class, which he says could potentially involve thousands of people. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2020. This report by Darryl Greer of The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
National Post
23-05-2025
- National Post
B.C. sex offender re-arrested on same day he was freed from prison
VANCOUVER — Vancouver police have re-arrested high-risk sex offender Randall Hopley, on the same day that he was released from prison. Article content Article content Police say Hopley had been released from Mission Institution on Thursday morning and ordered to live at a Vancouver halfway house. But he is alleged to have refused the directions of his parole officer and left the halfway house. Article content Article content Police say Hopley was arrested after a Canada-wide warrant was issued, and he remains in custody. Article content Article content Hopley obtained statutory release after being sentenced last May to 29 months in jail, minus credit for time served, having pleaded guilty to breaching conditions of a long-term supervision order on two occasions. Article content British Columbia Premier David Eby said he was 'deeply disappointed' that the Correctional Service of Canada did not provide notification of Hopley's release, particularly in the neighbourhood where he was sent to live. Article content He said at an unrelated news conference in Yellowknife, where he was attending the western premiers conference, that public confidence in the justice system is 'being tested right now.' Article content 'We need the federal government to step up and ensure that things like this can't happen. It just doesn't make any sense to anybody.' Article content
CTV News
14-05-2025
- CTV News
Contraband worth more than $200,000 seized at Saskatchewan Penitentiary
Staff at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert seized a large amount of contraband last week, according to the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). The illicit items included methamphetamine, THC, cannabis concentrate, and tobacco, with an estimated institutional value of $209,500. The correctional service attributed the seizure to the vigilance of its staff members, who it says use tools like ion scanners and drug-sniffing dogs to search personal property and inmates. 'CSC has also set up a telephone tip line for all federal institutions so that it may receive additional information about activities relating to security at CSC institutions. These activities may be related to drug use or trafficking that may threaten the safety and security of visitors, inmates, and staff members working at CSC institutionsm,' CSC said in a news release Wednesday. CSC has set up a telephone line for anyone with information about potential security threats at its federal prisons.
