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, […]
Whose deaths matter?
The Nova Scotia government has brought in legislation to create expert review panels to look into the deaths of those who die as a result of domestic violence as well as children who die in provincial care. The goal is to "turn tragedy into lessons learned and lives saved into the future." But Justice Minister Mark Furey refuses to extend the new law to include another vulnerable group: adults who die in provincial custody. Why not?
Why do the Liberals continue to get it so wrong even when they seem to be trying to get it right? Early last month, for example, Justice Minister Mark Furey introduced legislation to have expert review committees examine deaths resulting from domestic violence as well as unexpected deaths involving children in the care of the...
Hanna Garson: a young lawyer dedicated to the long, slow fight for prison justice
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 […]