The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. In a letter submitted to the courts, John Scoville, the Director of Correctional Services, outlines protective measures taken to avoid a outbreak of COVID-19, and then ends with the suggestion that being in jail is safer than being in the broader community during the pandemic: […]
El Jones interviews a prisoner at Burnside about what it’s like to be in jail during a pandemic
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. The prisoner El Jones spoke with last week provides an update on the situation at the Burnside jail. What’s happening in Burnside right now? Things are starting to deteriorate in here. Programs, resources, everything’s basically becoming non-existent. Have any health officials been in to talk […]
Clearing out the jails
In an extraordinary effort to avoid a COVID-19 outbreak, many prisoners were released this weekend.
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. This weekend, something extraordinary happened in a Dartmouth provincial courtroom. Since the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic, advocates have publicly called for the province to address the danger of the virus spreading in provincial jails. Over the weekend, Chief Judge Pamela Williams met that call, […]
We face a public health emergency, and criminalizing the marginalized can worsen the crisis
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. Nova Scotia has just declared a State of Emergency. Measures taken include a ban on gatherings over five people, the ability of the police to fine individuals and businesses breaking social isolation, the ability of the police to enter property, and the seizure of vehicles […]
Racist tropes about COVID-19 echo the long history of anti-Asian stereotyping
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. For the past week, as criticism of Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis has intensified, Trump has deliberately emphasized calling the disease the “Chinese Virus.” Trump’s strategy deliberately racializes the disease, and singles out and scapegoats Chinese people. The tactic stokes fear and hatred […]
“People are freaking out”: prisoners fear COVID-19 outbreak in jail
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. The following is a transcript of a phone interview I had today with a prisoner in the Burnside jail. On Monday, a coalition of advocacy groups sent a letter to Corrections calling for a number of actions to intervene before COVID-19 becomes a crisis in […]
The elderly women who paved the way
“We don’t have to worry, it only affects the elderly.” *** November, 2010, outside the Westin hotel. We are protesting the Halifax International Security Forum. Betty Peterson, then 93 years old, delivers a blistering speech against Edward Cornwallis, against white supremacy, against militarism. She makes me long for my 90s, where I imagine denouncing the […]
Police union says cops can’t do their job without beating up Black people
Halifax’s police union is lashing out after two of their members faced scrutiny for assaulting a Black youth. On Monday, the union that represents Halifax police officers leaked an email to CBC complaining that chief Dan Kinsella placed the officers who assaulted a 15-year-old Black boy — leaving him with a concussion, bruising, and injuries […]
Video shows Halifax police violently arresting 15-year-old
Names are withheld in this article to protect the identity of the youth. A disturbing video taken outside Bedford Place Mall on Friday evening shows the police using force against a 15-year-old Black youth. The short clip of the confrontation begins with the youth asserting, “I can go inside if I want to.” One of […]
Police commissioners wonder if they should “read the manual,” and other adventures in police oversight
If I had to pick an image to sum up my visits to the Board of Police Commissioners, it would be this one: I’m the kitty. My so-far futile yet determined efforts to engage with our democratic institutions continued on Monday, as I attended the latest Board of Police Commissioners meeting. On January 20, I […]
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