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Women's prison can be closed, court rules
McNeill House inmates say moving to another institution would be psychologically damaging
October 2008
Rob Tripp, Kingston Whig Standard
Ontario's top court says Corrections Canada can close the country's only stand-alone minimum-security federal prison for women, located in Kingston.
The Court of Appeal for Ontario rejected the arguments of four women serving life sentences. They argued that it would violate their rights to transfer them from Isabel Mc-Neill House in Kingston to multi-level prisons for women."The applicants' argument essentially comes down to the contention that housing different levels of prisoners within the same institution in and of itself results in a deprivation of the liberty interest of minimum-security prisoners," the judgment states. "We cannot accept that general proposition."
It is the third court decision to go against the inmates.The court rejected the suggestion of the McNeill House prisoners that fences, razor wire and security cameras at a prison such as Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener would be psychologically harmful. The court accepted that those security features enhance the sense that a person is in prison.
"That kind of psychological impact does not affect any residual liberty interests in the relevant sense," the judgment states.McNeill House, a century-old stone building at the corner of King Street and Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, houses women sentenced to federal prison terms of two years or more who are classified as minimum security. They are considered a low risk to escape, a low threat to public safety and they require a low level of supervision.
The house does not have perimeter security fences or cameras like those at five multi-level prisons for women. Those five prisons house women who are classed as minimum-, medium-and maximum-security inmates.Last February, the Correctional Service of Canada announced that it would close McNeill House because the building needed costly repairs and it is too expensive to operate.
Corrections said it costs more than $900,000 annually to operate the facility.Four women at McNeill House started court action to block their transfers. The closing has been on hold while the case has been underway.
The inmates are seeking leave to appeal the latest decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. In the meantime, they are asking an Ontario court to block their transfers until they have exhausted their legal options. A hearing on that issue is set for Oct. 24."CSC will not be transferring the inmates before that date," Holly Knowles, speaking for Corrections Canada, said yesterday.
At a four-day hearing in Kingston in February, the inmates argued that there would be a "substantial change" in the conditions of imprisonment if they were moved to a facility such as Grand Valley.Although they would be housed in a separate minimum-security area, they would be within the main fence that encircles the entire prison.
The women argued they would have fewer opportunities for education, work and socialization. The inmates noted that there are 13 stand-alone minimum-security prisons for men.Justice Robert Scott rejected the arguments and ruled that the women's constitutional rights would not be violated if they were transferred.
The inmates appealed the decision to Ontario's top court. The three-page appeal court judgment dismissed all of the claims of the inmates, noting that the record of the February case was "massive."The appeal court judges relied on Scott's summary of the facts.
Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, said she's concerned that the court accepted the claims of Corrections Canada."The court wants to be able to believe what it's told," said Pate, who filed an affidavit in support of the McNeill House inmates. "Our concern is that what Corrections presented as fact ... seems to have been accepted by the court without much questioning."
Corrections has said that it wants to close McNeill House because it is underused.The prison service said the house, which can hold 10 inmates, has held an average of six in the past six years. Corrections said it cannot get more women to go to the house.
Pate said that's not true."It's well known that the house could be filled several times over," she said.
A chronology
* 1990:Isabel McNeill House opens as a stand-alone minimum-security federal prison for women in Kingston.* FEB. 19, 2007:Corrections Canada announces that it will close the facility.
* FEB. 27, 2007:Four inmates at McNeill House file a court action, seeking an injunction to block the closing and their transfers.
* MARCH 1, 2007:Justice Thomas Lally rules that the transfers can go ahead, but McNeill House cannot be demolished pending a full hearing about the claims of the inmates.
* MARCH 5, 2007:A senior Ontario judge issues an order, after an emergency hearing, blocking the transfers temporarily.
* FEB. 11, 2008:Four-day hearing begins in Kingston before Ontario Superior Court justice Robert Scott.
* APRIL 24, 2008:Scott rejects the inmates' arguments and permits the closing; inmates appeal to Ontario Court of Appeal.
* SEPT. 22, 2008:Appeal court upholds Scott's decision.
Source articles:
thewhig.com
Further info on prisonjustice.ca:
Women lose court challenge to keep minimum-security prison