Solitary confinement class action certified in Alberta court

Alberta solitary confinement class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: A class action lawsuit filed against the provincial government of Alberta by inmates who have been held in solitary confinement in their provincial correctional facilities was certified by a judge. 
• Why: Inmates claim administrative segregation they were subjected to at the provincial correctional facilities caused them physical and mental harm. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit is being heard in the Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench. 

A class action lawsuit targeting the provincial government of Alberta filed by inmates who have been held in solitary confinement was recently certified by a judge in the Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench. 

Inmates claim that the use of solitary confinement —and administrative segregation in particular—as a punishment in provincial correctional facilities is harmful to their physical and mental health, reports CBC. 

Administrative segregation differs from segregation for disciplinary purposes and involves an inmate being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day in a cell that measures only 90 square feet, according to the solitary confinement class action. 

Inmates say they have had to endure spending weeks alone in administrative segregation in cells which are cold, dark, and where they receive their food through a door slot, reports CBC. 

Associate Chief Justice John Rooke certified the class action lawsuit on July 18 under the condition that a new representative plaintiff is approved by the Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench. 

Court wants new lead plaintiff in solitary confinement class action

Rooke ruled that the original representative plaintiff, Gordon Robinson, was not suitable for the position and that he had not shown he was capable of successfully fulfilling the role, reports CBC. 

Robinson has reportedly spent more than a year in solitary confinement in three separate Alberta correctional facilities after he was found guilty of shooting his friend to death in 2016. 

The class action lawsuit aims to cover any Canadian individual who has been held in solitary confinement in an Alberta provincial correctional facility since Nov. 1, 1992, reports CBC. 

Administrative segregation was done away with by the federal government back in 2019, at which time it was replaced with a new system which allows inmates more access to programs and time outside their cell. 

The federal government agreed to pay $28 million last year to end claims it violated the human rights of inmates who were placed in administrative segregation in federal penitentiaries. 

Have you been held in solitary confinement in an Alberta provincial correctional facility? Let us know in the comments!

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