INMATES USE RIGHTS TO DISRUPT JAILS, GUARDS SAY

'There's No Real Punishment'

Guards in B.C.'s federal prisons say inmates are getting away with serious
in-house crimes and using knowledge of their rights to manipulate the system.

Prisoners at some jails regularly use drugs and hide home-made weapons, but
the guards say punishments usually amount to a small fine or a warning.

Conservative MP Randy White is compiling a report that lists dozens of
recent examples of prison riots and inmate violence, and lists nine jails
where either inmates or the library have had subscriptions to pornographic
magazines.

White, a long-time victims' advocate and critic of the correctional system,
plans to release his full report in May and is calling for an operational
review of the national prison system.

Spokesmen for unions representing both provincial and federal prison guards
in this province say in-house deterrents are lacking and inmates are
increasingly citing their rights.

"There's no real act of punishment any more," says John Williams, regional
president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers. "[The prison
managers] cater to the inmates to keep them quiet."

Inmates are becoming increasingly aware of their human rights and make
prison rules work to their advantage, the guards say.

Policies meant to protect guards are being turned on their heads by inmates
who use the policy to get unpopular guards transferred.

"Inmates have learned to use this policy against us," Williams says. "This
is where we lose control. "It's pretty simple for me. Who runs our jails?"

Graham Trotman, spokesman for the corrections branch of the B.C. Government
Employees' Union, says some inmates in the provincial system continually
return to prison because they consider it the closest thing to a home.

"Coming to jail is no longer a deterrent," he says.

"[Inmates] are given what they want when they complain loudly enough."

But the inmates don't have to utter a word when they want a particular
employee removed from a federal prison.

The prisoners have learned how to manipulate the employee protection
policy, which Williams says was implemented about a year ago to deal with
anonymous, written threats against guards.

The policy dictates that a guard be transferred to either another facility
or another area of the prison within 24 hours of a written threat being
made against them. Williams says the inmates at Matsqui prison near
Abbotsford have used it four times in the past year to get rid of guards.

"Prisoners know the system inside and out," says Liz Elliott, a Simon
Fraser University criminologist and former social worker who still works
with inmates.

Elliott says she believes inmates should know their rights and
responsibilities if they're expected to abide by the rules and says harsh
punishments serve neither offenders nor Canadian citizens.

"I have to say, as a person who lives [in the Fraser Valley], I would be
concerned about people being released from a system where they're being
treated like animals," she says.

The 1992 enactment of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act changed
the status of prisoners' rights, and Williams believes, in some cases, the
pendulum has swung to give inmates more rights than the guards.

At Matsqui institution, Williams says prisoners facing in-house
disciplinary charges can get legal advice through a "peer advocate"
program, in which inmates with legal training provide support and advice.
The program started about a year ago, but Williams would like to see it
cancelled.

"They [the inmates] get better training than most of my staff [for
disciplinary proceedings]. They're allowed to have somebody represent
them," he says.

"Who represents the correctional officer?"

Canada's correctional system encourages resolution of in-house disciplinary
problems through discussion and mediation, but guards argue the move
suggests to inmates there are few, if any consequences for their actions.

A 2004 directive on the discipline of inmates from the commissioner of the
Correctional Service says staff should "attempt informal resolution of
unacceptable behaviour wherever possible." According to the written
directive, informal resolution includes "resolution circles, negotiation,
mediation, counselling, cooperative problem solving, warnings and advice."

At Mountain institution, a medium-security prison in Agassiz, the number of
in-house charges in the past year was dramatically lower than in previous
years. In 2004, prisoners racked up 238 in-house charges. But in 2003,
there were 548 charges, and in 2002 there were 728 charges in an inmate
population of about 500 men.

Last year, 44 of the charges resulted in a warning, while 143 of the
charges were punished by a fine that Williams says would rarely exceed $50.

Williams, who was a seasoned guard before taking up his union position
about a year ago, says it's not unusual for fines to be handed out for
offences such as possession of drugs or verbally assaulting a guard.

Gordon Alcorn, a 51-year-old convicted murderer living in a halfway house
in Chilliwack, says the in-house disciplinary system is no more than a
"joke" to most of the inmates.

Alcorn spent 20 years in different prisons before moving to the halfway
house and says the disciplinary system is known as "kangaroo court."

"I don't take it seriously -- most prisoners don't. It's a joke," Alcorn
said in a phone interview from his parole officer's office.

"I'm serving a life sentence. What can you to do to me?"

Alcorn says he and most other offenders would rather tick off a guard and
be slapped with a warning or small fine than upset another inmate, who
would likely seek a punishment of a much harsher variety.

Neither Williams nor Nancy Wrenshall, acting warden at Mountain
institution, have a solid explanation for the drop in charges, but
Wrenshall says it's the guards' decision whether to go ahead with formal
discipline.

She says she often hears guards complain that there's no sense in laying a
charge because they believe the punishment doesn't match the offence, but
dismisses that as a poor excuse for officers not doing their jobs.

"That's a bit like a police officer who says, 'You know what, I'm not going
to bother making that arrest because I don't like the sentence the courts
hand down,'" Wrenshall says.

But the union of federal corrections officers -- which has been in a bitter
labour dispute for three years with the federal government -- says that at
some prisons, charges are disappearing, serious offences are being
designated as minor and serious charges are being tossed out because of
minor technical errors.

Wrenshall says she is not aware of those complaints and says there has been
no direction from management to lay fewer charges. And even if an inmate's
poor behaviour is dealt with informally, Wrenshall says all behavioural
observations are noted and considered when the inmate is up for parole.

Gerry Dewar, acting warden at Matsqui prison, says his staff is constantly
monitoring inmates' behaviour and write 200 to 300 behavioural reports each
month. The reports are used to determine who may be using or dealing drugs,
and are compiled for use during parole hearings.

In the past four months, more than 15 inmates have been moved to the
maximum security Kent institution for drug-related offences, Dewar says.

Last fall, Matsqui prison was seeing more drugs than usual, but Dewar says
the situation has improved since key dealers and distributors were moved to
Kent.

Drugs in prisons are not a new phenomenon --and both Dewar and Williams
agree the problem is nearly impossible to solve -- but Williams says it's
no coincidence that Matsqui has the worst drug problem in the region and
also has almost weekly "open houses" where about 150 visitors enter the prison.

Regular visits and contact with the outside world are encouraged as part of
inmates' rehabilitation and eventual re-integration into society, but White
says such visits should be considered a privilege and not a right for inmates.

He points to assaults, murders, molestations and drug deals that have taken
place during prison visits and says even though he was assured by the
commissioner in 2002 that the correctional service was "cleaning up [its]
act," he says little has changed.

"Things have gotten worse," White says.

"The inmate committees and and the drug cartel and the gangs are the ones
that rule the roost."

White points to the ability of inmates in maximum security prisons to get
subscriptions to magazines such as Hustler, Playboy, and Porn Stars.
Through Access to Information requests, the MP discovered several Canadian
prisons had pornography magazines being delivered to either the prison
library or inmates.

"These guys [the inmates] have claimed it's their right to have this
pornography," White says.

"I would suggest it's not their right to have that pornography."

White, like the guards, believes inmates can get what they want if they
complain loudly enough.

"It's a system of appeasement," he says.

He says complaints and concerns about the system are "falling on deaf ears"
and he wants to see change.

But Alcorn, the convicted murderer, warns that a toughening of the system
is only going to create ill-adjusted parolees and ex-convicts who will be
more likely to re-offend once they're released.

"Every prisoner is coming out one day and is going to live in your
neighbourhood," Alcorn says.

"Do you want someone who knows rights and understands rights and can
exercise them properly, or do you want someone who's been locked in a cage
for 20 years?"

An excerpt from the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, enacted in 1992.

PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE THE SERVICE:

That the service use the least restrictive measures consistent with the
protection of the public, staff members and offenders;

That offenders retain the rights and privileges of all members of society,
except those rights and privileges that are necessarily removed or
restricted as a consequence of the sentence;

That correctional policies, programs and practices respect gender, ethnic,
cultural and linguistic differences and be responsive to the special needs
of women and aboriginal peoples, as well as to the needs of other groups of
offenders with special requirements.

REPORT LISTS DRUG USE, ASSAULTS ON GUARDS AND OTHER VIOLENCE IN CANADA'S
PRISONS:

Next month, Conservative MP Randy White expects to release a damning report
on Canada's prison system that will include dozens of examples of violence,
drugs and questionable practices inside prison walls. White is writing the
report using government documents acquired through Access to Information
requests and newspaper articles from across the country.

Some excerpts from White's report:

APRIL 10, 2005

Heroin dealer Nicholas Chan demanded his conviction for selling dope to an
undercover cop be overturned because of the conditions he experienced while
in remand. Some of his complaints include access to only six radio
stations, a lack of grass on the exercise yard, and bad television
reception. Chan also complained he was "getting bored" with only three
board games and three television channels and is calling his conditions in
the jail a violation of his rights. Chan is attempting to sway a judge to
consider his conditions in jail when sentencing him for selling $7,000
worth of heroin to a Calgary police officer.

APRIL 7

A corrections officer was injured when five inmates high on pills refused
to allow guards into their common area in protest of their deliveries
running late. One correctional officer was punched in the face by an inmate
involved in the disturbance at Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility.
The inmates then ripped a bolted table from the floor and used it to
barricade access to their cell. Thirty guards waited until that night when
they entered the blocked cell with shields and tear-gassed the inmates.

APRIL 5

Correctional officers warned that drugs in Canadian prisons are rampant and
little is being done about the situation. Belongings are given to inmates
without being searched, and individual cells can only be searched once
every month according to regulations -- guards must apply for permission to
perform any additional searches.

MARCH 26

A maximum security Edmonton Institution prisoner lit a blanket on fire in
the shower area, which has no sprinkler systems. As guards approached the
inmate while blinded by smoke, he produced a homemade knife fashioned out
of a fiberglass lunch tray. In the same week, another inmate at Edmonton
Institution climbed up a chain link fence and onto the institution's roof.
When guards were able to apprehend him and return him to his cell it was
discovered that the inmate was carrying an ice pick. Guards at the
institution wonder why stab-proof vests are not available to them on a
regular basis considering what they my encounter daily.

MARCH 22

After assaulting a jail guard, destroying his mattress, threatening to kill
a guard confiscating contraband from his cell and advising another guard he
had people on the outside ready to kill him and his family, Daniel Landry
is getting his wish for a stiffer, federal prison sentence. As an inmate at
Saint John Regional Correctional Centre, Landry says he doesn't have access
to the treatment programs he wants and had "issues" with prison staff. A
judge granted Landry his wish and added 14 months to his one-year sentence.

MARCH 11

Yet another inmate has requested a longer prison term, this time so that he
can smoke while in jail. Douglas Bezanson is serving a 23-month sentence at
Saint John Regional Correction Centre. Recent efforts to get charged with
additional crimes and sent to federal prison include: Lighting bed sheets
on fire, pulling a toilet out of the wall and flooding his cell, damaging a
door frame, and smashing another toilet. After being sentenced to an
additional 10 months he thanked the judge.

MARCH 10

Dickson Motsewetsho managed to run an international telephone fraud
business while serving a sentence in Don Jail. Motsewetsho continued his
telemarketing scheme while in prison on unrelated charges by having an
outside partner make three-way calls for him. He billed businesses in the
United States $500 each for a "business directory" without their knowledge
or consent. Motsewetsho also defrauded sales workers who were not paid
their wages.

FEBRUARY 26

Richard Barker has received six months in jail for his part in the riot at
Edmonton Institution on 7 Feb. 2004. The riot was sparked by an assault on
a guard and went on to produce $150, 000 in physical damage. Inmates
smashed computers and furniture, started fires in office areas, and tore
sinks out of the walls in the lunchroom. Raymond Jacobson, the inmate who
began the riot, was sentenced to an additional two years in prison.

Source: Behind the Bars II, a report by MP Randy White

READING MATERIAL:

During his investigation into Canada's prison system, Conservative MP Randy
White discovered through Access to Information requests that several
institutions had subscriptions to magazines. White says the magazines are
sent to inmates or the prison library through the correctional service.

Below is a sample of some of the magazines found at Canadian prisons.

Stony Mountain, Manitoba

Playboy

Maxim

Stuff

Drumheller, Alberta

Playboy (now banned)

Hustler (now banned)

Edmonton Institution, Alberta (2003)

Hustler (31 subscriptions)

Penthouse Letters (4)

High Society (8)

"D"-Cup (3)

Club International (25)

Club Confidential (36)

Playboy (3)

Velvet (6)

40Plus (6)

Porn Stars (5)

Oui (13)

Adam xxx movies (2)

Bath Institution, Ontario

Penthouse

Velvet

Joyceville Institution, Ontario

Black Men

"D"-Cup

Dorchester Penitentiary, New Brunswick

Fox magazine