Community organizations across the province are pushing the provincial government to reduce correctional centre populations affected by recent COVID-19 outbreaks.
A joint letter sent to the Minister of Corrections and Policing, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General and the Head of Public Prosecutions requests “quick and drastic action to protect both inmates and staff members in these facilities” from the government. Specifically, the letter suggests the release of elderly, immunocompromised, non-violent and low risk re-offending inmates in order to reduce the spread of the virus.
Pierre Hawkins, public legal counsel with the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan, said the general public has been asked to social distance throughout the pandemic. He wants inmates to be able to do the same.
“It’s almost inevitable that it will enter the facility, but what’s not inevitable is that there will be a [significant] number of cases,” explained Hawkins. “We think those numbers are likely to go up as we hear from inmates sitting in these centres who have people around them testing positive when they have not tested positive.”
“Staff are being put at risk due to overcrowding at correctional centres and we have seen a number of cases among staff. For the sake of everyone, we would like to see the number of inmates at Saskatchewan’s correctional facilities go down.”
This latest letter follows several previous letters that were sent by advocates, one as recently as late October, asking for the government to act. According to information from the John Howard Society, they argue that targeted steps should be taken to mitigate the risk of further outbreaks, which they say are bound to happen in other correctional facilities without action.
“Some of these steps, such as a significant reduction of inmates held on remand, were taken at the start of the pandemic, but have since returned to their normal numbers,” reads a statement from the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan.
Hawkins clarified that it’s not about giving a “get-out-of-jail-free” card to these inmates.
“What we’re asking for is that alternatives in the community be considered,” added Hawkins. “At any given time, there are many people serving sentences in the community and they are monitored by the correctional system. We think that approach could be taken to minimize risks to not only those inmates, but to the entire correctional community.”
Advocates are also asking that Saskatchewan to fall in line with other provinces on the practice of remand, where this province holds defendants awaiting trial at twice the national average.
Related:
