Solitary Confinement Class Action

Overview

Valent Legal has commenced a class action against the Attorney General of Nova Scotia over allegations of systemic infliction of prolonged solitary confinement upon prisoners of Nova Scotia’s Correctional Facilities.

The use of solitary confinement subjects inmates to an isolated cell for a minimum of 23 hours per day, often for weeks or months at a time. The use of prolonged periods of solitary confinement denies inmates meaningful human contact, basic privacy, and subjects them to unnatural light at all hours of the day.

Scientific evidence indicates that the prolonged use of solitary confinement causes mental and physical harm to humans. The Class Action alleges the Province to have been negligent and to have breached various rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.