Law Times

PAGE 4 NEWS March 15, 2010 • Law TiMes Convict free, lawyers shocked following Windsor prison ruling BY RON STANG For Law Times WINDSOR, Ont. — A former elementary school teacher con- victed of sexually assaulting stu- dents was out on bail last week while he appeals a controversial ruling in which a judge declined to let him serve his time intermit- tently due to dangerous condi- tions at the Windsor Jail. Superior Court Justice Ste- ven Rogin shocked lawyers and the wider community last month when he said the inmate, 53-year-old Antonio Raco, would be in "grave danger" at the 84-year-old facility. Raco's lawyer, William Mar- kle, had asked for house arrest. But he said that if the sentence included jail time, his client should be allowed to serve it on weekends. Rogin, however, said a week- end sentence was the "last thing" he would consider. "I was taken off guard, to be honest with you," Markle says, noting the judge's comments were made "in the midst of my submission, yes." The judge's remarks came just over a week after another inmate, 19-year-old Jesse Brode, was al- legedly beaten and left paralyzed from the waist down after enter- ing the Windsor Jail. Markle says he wasn't aware of the specific conditions at the fa- cility. His client was sentenced to six months in jail. Five men have been charged with one count each of aggra- vated assault over the attack against Brode in a common area shortly after his arrival. Rogin said prisoners serving on weekends at the jail are at risk of attack if they don't bring contraband into the prison. According to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correc- tional Services, there were 123 re- ported inmate-on-inmate assaults at the Windsor Jail last year. There were also nine inmate assaults on staff and 16 lockdowns. Ministry officials wouldn't comment on the Brode incident because it's before the court. There was a lockdown for a number of days after the attack, but ministry spokesman Tony Brown says that was for "a search in response to in- stitution officials receiving credible information of contraband . . . not in response to inmates and sometimes has had as many as 160 prisoners with some of those sleeping on mattresses on the floor or three to a cell. In 2006, local Frank Miller the inmate-on-inmate assault." Brown says the ministry is "committed to the just and humane treatment" of those in custody and takes violent inci- dents "very seriously." He notes police are always notified, and the institution conducts its own investigation. The jail isn't the oldest in the province. That title belongs to the 160-year-old institution in Brockville, Ont. But the Windsor Jail was apparently built for only 100 Justice Douglas Phillips called jail conditions "abysmal" with inmates sleeping on soiled mat- tresses and gave a prisoner three days' credit for each day served. Windsor defence lawyer Frank Miller calls the facility so "overcrowded, old, it should have been replaced years ago." While Miller, who heads the local chapter of the Criminal Lawyers' Association, thinks the beating of Brode was isolated, he says it was "unpreventable" given the conditions. Staff there do a "great job" in an "impos- sible" situation, he adds. "Clients of mine have been intimidated and assaulted all kinds of times." Miller says that at one time, prisoners serving weekend sen- tences could go to a local halfway house. But that ended as a result of a decision by the former Tory government under Mike Harris. But besides reducing the risk of harm to prisoners, halfway houses are "an awful lot cheaper than keeping people locked up in jail," Miller argues. Lawyer Lisa Carnelos says that besides overcrowding and a lack of cleanliness, there are inadequate facilities for law- yers to meet with clients at the Windsor facility. "There are times during the day when you can't easily see your client, and there are only so many rooms available. I might be ex- pected to wait beyond a period that I can reasonably wait." Craig Jones, executive direc- tor of the John Howard Society of Canada, says prisoner insecu- rity is endemic in many remand centres. "Violence is a pervasive fact of incarceration because you have incredible boredom combined with fear for one's well-being." Nevertheless, he says there are a couple of ways for prison staff to try to keep a lid on violence. One is through "dynamic se- curity" where staff integrate with the prison population by "engag- ing with people as human beings." Alternatively, they can respond with "static" security through impersonal or confrontational means like video cameras, body armour, mace, and batons to re- spond to prisoner discord. At the same time, Jones says Inside you will find: • an up-to-date alphabetical listing of more than 57,000 barristers, solicitors and Quebec notaries, corporate counsel, law firms and judges in Canada; • contact information for the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, Federal Cabinet Ministers, departments, boards, commissions and Crown corporations; • legal and government contact information related to each province for the Courts of Appeal, Supreme Courts, County and District Courts, Provincial Courts, law societies, law schools, Legal Aid, and other law-related offices of importance. More than a phone book Hardbound • Published February each year • On subscription $141 • P/C 0600140999 One-time purchase $157 • P/C 0600010999 • ISSN 0084-8573 CD-ROM • On subscription $214 • P/C 0600260999 One-time purchase $229 • P/C 0600210000 remand facilities don't have the resources to treat the personal problems many inmates exhibit. For example, prisoners en- tering a facility are deprived of drugs, which results in a "whole range of behavioural problems." Drugs themselves are a way of "self-medicating" because those individuals have psychological problems that local jails are "ill- equipped" to treat. Ministry officials say the gov- ernment is committed to upgrad- ing the local prison system by replacing aged jails with modern detention centres. Four new fa- cilities have opened recently with security measures such as video remands, double-locking sets of doors, and self-contained hous- ing pods or units. Indeed, a new detention cen- tre in Windsor will have 315 beds, more than double the cur- rent capacity. A request for proposals from a short list of three developers to build the facility went out in early March. A winning bidder is expected to be named in June, and construction is to begin later this year. The Windsor Jail is scheduled For a 30-day, no risk evaluation call 1.800.565.6967 Canada Law Book is a Division of The Cartwright Group Ltd. Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping and handling. www.lawtimesnews.com CanLawList_LT_Feb8/15_10.indd 1 2/3/10 4:35:06 PM to close by the end of 2013. But the site of the new facil- ity — close to residential and shopping areas — is controver- sial, with numerous residents, as well as the city's mayor, saying it should be built elsewhere. LT

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