Newfoundland adopts ‘progressive’ new policy for disciplinary segregation
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The Newfoundland and Labrador government is overhauling its prisoner segregation policies in a move it says makes the province a national leader on disciplinary segregation.
Justice Minister Andrew Parsons says the maximum time in isolation in adult jails will now be 10 days, down from 15, and inmates will be able to earn a shortened stay.
The government says it has accepted 18 recommendations from a 2016 Segregation Review Committee report “in principle.”
Among the recommendations: That inmates suffering mental-health issues not be placed in segregation; that every effort be made to allow segregated inmates the same activities as other prisoners; and that they get visiting privileges and improved access to health services.