Woman who spent 16 days in extreme solitary confinement sues federal government

Shaina Luck · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A pistillate who spent 16 days successful an utmost signifier of solitary confinement successful a Nova Scotia situation is present suing the national authorities for damages.

In 2020, Lisa Adams and her lawyers successfully argued earlier a Nova Scotia judge that her Charter rights had been breached aft she spent 16 days successful a "dry cell" connected suspicion that she hid drugs successful her vagina portion serving a condemnation astatine Nova Institution for Women successful Truro.

A "dry cell" tin beryllium utilized for antheral and pistillate inmates suspected of ingesting oregon hiding contraband wrong their bodies. It is simply a solitary country with nary flushing toilet oregon moving water. 

The inmate is observed done a solid model and a information camera astatine each times, adjacent portion utilizing the toilet, until the point is removed done the person's bodily waste. There is ever immoderate signifier of lighting successful a adust cell, arsenic guards are required to instrumentality notes connected what the inmate is doing each 15 minutes.

• Case challenges 'horrific' situation surveillance immoderate see harsher than solitary confinement

Adams yet requested a pelvic introspection by a doctor, which recovered she had nary objects wrong her.  

In effect to her case, the national authorities changed the instrumentality and placed caller restrictions connected the usage of "dry cells." The amendments acceptable a 72-hour maximum for adust celling, though the caput of the instauration tin widen that by an other 24 to 48 hours nether definite conditions. 

"This full happening has been a roller coaster, successful each honesty," Adams said successful a caller interrogation successful Halifax. 

Difficult memories

Adams present lives successful Saint John, adjacent her parent and 2 sons. She was released from situation successful aboriginal 2021 aft a two-year condemnation for cause trafficking, and she is nary longer nether immoderate conditions.

Her civilian lawsuit is scheduled to commencement connected June 16, and Adams says it's been hard to hole herself mentally.

In the adust cell, the aesculapian unit noted she had a intelligence interruption successful which she mumbled to herself, was incapable to travel directions, rubbed her hands connected her arms continuously, pulled astatine her hairsbreadth and appeared "jumpy" and "scared astatine noises and abrupt movements." 

She became suicidal, to the grade wherever she said she wrote letters to her household to accidental goodbye. 

Adams said she's tried to "compartmentalize" the experience, but the ineligible lawsuit has stopped her from moving forward.

"I cognize that I'm going to person to revisit it, and revisit it decently erstwhile it does spell to trial," she said.  

"So I've benignant of acceptable it to the broadside arsenic opposed to afloat healing from it yet, due to the fact that I didn't privation to person to re-experience each of the details and person to spell done it each implicit again."

Seeking compensation

Adams's 2020 lawsuit was a Charter situation and not a lawsuit, truthful determination was nary compensation attached to the decision. That's wherefore her lawyers are returning to tribunal with a civilian lawsuit now. 

• N.S. justice agrees to onslaught down instrumentality permitting situation 'dry cells'
• Dry cells to beryllium banned for women prisoners suspected of carrying contraband successful bodies

"She suffered an immense magnitude of intelligence harm arsenic a effect of [the adust cell]. And that's what this lawsuit is about," said Mike Dull, 1 of the Halifax-based lawyers representing Adams. 

Dull argues that erstwhile decisions placed restrictions connected solitary confinement and that correctional officials acted wrongly successful Adams's case. 

"What we are arguing is that the law, the courts, request to clasp them to account," helium said. "And the mode that the justness strategy is capable to bash that is done fiscal means." 

Dull declined to sermon what magnitude Adams's ineligible squad is seeking, but noted courts person ordered compensation for different cases of solitary confinement.  

• Appeal Court upholds people enactment rulings against isolation successful prisons

Government defence

In its connection of defence, the Government of Canada said Adams had "reasonable access" to ineligible counsel and regular visits from aesculapian professionals, and that a urine trial and cause detector canine hunt revealed capable grounds of methamphetamine usage to springiness the instauration "reasonable grounds" to judge Adams had drugs successful a assemblage cavity. 

The defence states determination was nary negligence oregon breach of work toward Adams, that it did not breach her Charter rights and that she is not entitled to damages due to the fact that its actions complied with the instrumentality arsenic it work astatine the clip and weren't "wrong, taken successful atrocious faith, oregon an maltreatment of power." 

The government's connection of defence agreed a doctor's introspection recovered thing wrong Adams, and stated "Canada acknowledges that the confinement of [Adams] successful a adust compartment successful the circumstances of this lawsuit was regrettable." 

In effect to an enquiry from CBC, the Correctional Service of Canada said they're moving toward "least invasive" hunt methods, and regulatory amendments astir the usage of assemblage scanners came into effect past fall.

Class enactment suit not proceeding

In a abstracted case, a projected people enactment against adust celling volition not spell up owed to a deficiency of participants. 

A constricted fig of women came guardant to articulation the people action, and determining which of their cases progressive a adust compartment arsenic opposed to different signifier of administrative segregation became complicated.  

The lawsuit was led by the aforesaid lawyers who correspond Lisa Adams, but she was not portion of the projected people action. 

• Proposed people enactment suit targets Ottawa implicit situation signifier acceptable to go illegal

In a defence little to the projected people action, the national authorities stated that betwixt 2013 and 2022, the "dry compartment protocol" was utilized connected 90 inmates successful the 5 national women's institutions successful Canada. 

Mike Dull said it became hard to specify "what is and what isn't adust cell," and the lawsuit was incapable to spell ahead. 

'She was, successful our opinion, tortured'

Adams's lawsuit is supported by the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia and the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS). The Elizabeth Fry Society advocates for women who've been progressive with the justness system. 

CAEFS enforcement manager Emilie Coyle said her enactment worked intimately with the authorities erstwhile it changed the wording of the adust cells law. 

She says Canadians should carnivore successful caput that astatine the clip Adams was adust celled, it was portion of the law. In her view, this was wrong. 

"She was, successful our opinion, tortured successful those conditions for 16 days. And the information that she's capable to beryllium present and to talk astir her experiences is rather remarkable, due to the fact that she experienced immoderate precise traumatic attraction astatine the hands of our state," Coyle said.