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Prisoners, acting mostly on their own, are changing the legal landscape of Nova Scotia’s jails

August 7, 2020 By Tim Bousquet 1 Comment

Today, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Kevin Coady published a decision, saying that the way two prisoners at the Burnside Jail are being held in solitary confinement is unfair, and he wants the jail administrators to address the situation, and if they don’t within 14 days, he wants to see the prisoners in court, potentially […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: Andre Gray, Burnside jail, Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, Claire McNeil, Dylan Gogan, Dylan Roach, East Coast Prison Justice Society (ECPJS), El Jones, habeas corpus applications, Hanna Garson, Justice Elizabeth Van den Eynden, Justice Gerald Moir, Justice Kevin Coady, Justice Peter P. Rosinski, lockdown, Maurice Pratt, Rae’heem Downey, Richard Verge, segregation in prisons, Solitary confinement

Hanna Garson: a young lawyer dedicated to the long, slow fight for prison justice

April 15, 2019 By El Jones 1 Comment

It’s a Tuesday morning, and I’m sitting in courtroom 302 of the Halifax Supreme Court watching two prisoners, Geevan Nagendran and Tyquan Downey, face the lawyer for the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility (Burnside). I text Hanna Garson, “I’m watching the most upsetting habeas in court right now.” She texts back, “what courtroom?” Two minutes […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Adam Norton, Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility (Burnside), Claire McNeil, Dylan Gogan, East Coast Prison Justice Society, Eileen Collett, Elizabeth Fry Society, Emma Halpern, Geevan Nagendran, habeas corpus, Hanna Garson, Jessica Rose, Justice Chipman, Legal Aid, lockdown, Maurice Pratt, Planetta Hughes, Sarah White, Schulich School of law, Sheila Wildeman, Tyquan Downey

“Needlessly institutionalized” hearing continues

Panel hears that the wait list for people wanting to move from mental institutions to homes in the community continues to grow.

February 14, 2018 By Jennifer Henderson

The second day of a human rights inquiry about whether people with intellectual disabilities continue to be “needlessly institutionalized” in Nova Scotia heard from an expert public policy researcher on the topic. Michael Bach has spent 35 years as the managing director of IRIS, Ontario’s Institute for Research on Inclusion in Society. In late 2012,...

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Claire McNeil, Disabled Persons Coalition, human rights inquiry, IRIS Institute for Research on Inclusion in Society, Jennifer Henderson, Michael Bach, People First Nova Scotia

Needlessly institutionalized

People have been locked into a psychiatric ward at the Nova Scotia Hospital for "no medical or legal reason," says lawyer Vince Calderhead.

February 6, 2018 By Jennifer Henderson

A board of inquiry got underway yesterday into a complaint under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act which has the potential to change the way the provincial government treats people with disabilities. “The outcome of this case,” says Jean Coleman, “could make a good life in the community possible for all people with disabilities.” Coleman...

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Beth MacLean, Claire McNeil, Disability Rights Coalition, Emerald Hall, Human Rights Act, Jean Coleman, Jennifer Henderson, Joey Delaney, Kevin Kindred, Kymberly Franklin, Nova Scotia Association of Community Living, NS Human Rights Commission, people with disabilities, Sheila Livingstone, supportive housing, Vince Calderhead, Walter Thompson

A prisoner on prisons: “Habeas Corpus in a Nutshell”

Dylan Gogan was incarcerated in terrible conditions, unable to access the most basic resources, but taught himself case law from scratch and changed how Nova Scotian prisons operate.

October 28, 2017 By El Jones 5 Comments

The Journal of Prisoners on Prisons released a special issue on October 19th. From the press release, This special issue, titled “Dialogue on Canada’s Federal Penitentiary System and the Need for Change,” features dozens of contributions written by criminalized women and men currently incarcerated in Correctional Service Canada (CSC) institutions. The writings document the counterproductive changes […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Ashley Smith, Breese Davies, Claire McNeil, Dylan Gogan, Dylan Roach, East Coast Prison Justice Society, El Jones, Habeas Corpus in a Nutshell, Hanna Garson, Journal of Prisoners on Prisons, Rachel Fayter, Sean Kelly, Sherry Payne, Solitary confinement

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Brian Borcherdt. Photo: Anna Edwards-Borcherdt

Brian Borcherdt came of age in Yarmouth in the 1990s. When he arrived in Halifax, the city’s famous music scene was already waning, and worse, the music he made was rejected by the cool kids anyway. After decades away from Nova Scotia, he and his young family have settled in the Annapolis Valley, where he’ll zoom in to chat with Tara about his band Holy Fuck’s endlessly delayed tour, creating the Dependent Music collective, and the freedom and excitement of the improvised music he’s making now. Plus: Bringing events back in 2021.

The Tideline is advertising-free and subscriber-supported. It’s also a very good deal at just $5 a month. Click here to support The Tideline.

Uncover: Dead Wrong

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder. He served 17 years in prison, but steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2019, Glen Assoun was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner founder and investigative journalist Tim Bousquet has followed the story of Glen Assoun's wrongful conviction for over five years. Now, Bousquet tells that story as host of Season 7 of the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong.

Click here to go to listen to the podcast, or search for CBC Uncover on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast aggregator.

About the Halifax Examiner

Examiner folk The Halifax Examiner was founded by investigative reporter Tim Bousquet, and now includes a growing collection of writers, contributors, and staff. Left to right: Joan Baxter, Stephen Kimber, Linda Pannozzo, Erica Butler, Jennifer Henderson, Iris the Amazing, Tim Bousquet, Evelyn C. White, El Jones, Philip Moscovitch More about the Examiner.

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Recent posts

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  • More federal money might help seniors in Nova Scotia, but the province is slow on the uptake as Liberal leadership candidates stake out their positions January 20, 2021
  • Atlantic Gold is going to court January 20, 2021

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