Prison death report tells the same sad story, but advocates hope for a new ending

It's been 11 years since a retired provincial court justice made 77 recommendations on bringing the justice system in Newfoundland and Labrador into the current century.

That review was prompted by the death of an inmate at Her Majesty's Penitentiary in St. John's.

On Wednesday, another report was put forward with 17 recommendations on improving a correctional system that it says is at a "breaking point," unable to deal with mental health and addictions issues.

For Cindy Murphy, executive director of the John Howard Society, the latest report was too familiar.

"It's certainly troubling to read it once again and to find out that we're no further ahead," she said. "And now four people have since died."

Anyone who goes into Her Majesty's Penitentiary without a mental health problem is going to have one within about two weeks.- Mark Gruchy, defence lawyer

The report recommended a new provincial prison be constructed in St. John's, replacing the decrepit Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

It also made recommendations that could change the fundamental way the province handles rehabilitation — like having people serve supervised sentences in the community rather than in a jail cell.

Defence lawyer Mark Gruchy said some of the recommendations were "profoundly basic," such as developing a strategy to deal with drug trafficking inside the jail walls or having a policy on saving video surveillance of critical incidents.

"These things to me should not be recommendations. They're common sense," he said. "It's mind-blowing to me that we have a corrections system and a justice system interconnected with it that requires an external report to once again recommend very, very basic issues."

Mental health concerns a big takeaway

In a blunt statement, the report said the province's correctional system isn't able to adequately handle mental health and addictions issues.

Jesso's team found that jail staff in the province reported between 77 and 87 per cent of inmates have some sort of mental health or addictions problems.

"I would also say that anyone who goes into Her Majesty's Penitentiary without a mental health problem is going to have one within about two weeks," Gruchy said. "Because the facility is going to generate mental health problems, and it's going to generate addictions, and it's going to generate crime."

Lawyer Lynn Moore said a lack of treatment outside the criminal justice system leads to desperate people in crisis mode, who end up committing crimes to feed addictions. Once they end up incarcerated, they experience the systemic problems in the correctional system, and it creates a cycle that is hard to abandon.

"We need to not only change the system in the prison, but we need to change the system outside the prison," Moore said.

Listen to the critical take about the report from all three On The Go guests

The report called for separate mental health units to be constructed at Her Majesty's Penitentiary and the Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville. Murphy believes that is a good step, while the province awaits a new prison with better mental health services.

"We cannot be housing people ... with serious mental health issues with someone who may be at risk to their personal safety. That's not conducive to wellness and I don't know how, possibly, anybody could improve in those types of circumstances."

What's old is new again — except HMP

Among the suggestions made by the review team — led by retired cop Marlene Jesso — are some things that existed in the province before, but were axed.

Lawyer Lynn Moore said she was disappointed to see electronic monitoring slashed in the 2013 budget, only to see it come up again as a recommendation in this report.

With the average stay at Her Majesty's Penitentiary around three months, Moore said it's beneficial to the community to have people serving lighter sentences monitored in the public instead of being behind bars.

It's time to stop waiting. Those talks have come and gone over generations and nothing has changed.- Cindy Murphy

Gruchy said the buy-in for those types of sentences starts with the Crown prosecutors office — they would need to seek out alternative sentences in the province's new drug court.

Government has said it accepts all the recommendations, but after several reports and decades of problems at Her Majesty's Penitentiary, he can't help but feel pessimistic.

"I don't know how much it means at all to say 'We accept the recommendations.' What matters to me is when we start seeing actions, and quick ones."

Murphy said the province needs to quit looking to the federal government for help on the issue. Newfoundland and Labrador houses few federal prisoners — people who received sentences of two years or more — and she feels it's unlikely Ottawa will kick in much, if any, funding for a new jail.

"It's time to stop waiting. Those talks have come and gone over generations and nothing has changed. We've got to start figuring out something on our own, and it's got to happen quickly."