Pubdate: Thu, 07 Jan 2016
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2016 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.leaderpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Note: This editorial reflects the view of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix 
editorial board.
Page: A5

REPORT ALL JAIL DEATHS

The sudden death of Shauna Wolf on Dec. 27 while she was being held 
on remand at the Pine Grove Correctional Centre raises some troubling 
questions, starting with the fact that provincial policy still 
doesn't require justice officials to publicly disclose every such 
death as soon as practicable.

Surely, there's nothing a government in a democratic society does on 
our behalf that's more serious or sensitive than to deprive people of 
their freedom. Whenever someone who is taken into custody then dies 
while in lock-up, the death should become public information as soon 
as the person's family is notified.

Prompt disclosure of deaths in custody can ensure a high level of 
accountability required to maintain public confidence in a justice 
system where we can be confident that people aren't simply "disappearing."

It's not good enough for Saskatchewan's Justice Ministry to suggest 
that it doesn't issue news releases about in-custody deaths unless 
staff suspect foul play, or there is some threat to public safety. 
Whether it's through natural causes, accident, suicide or homicide, 
it's imperative that all such deaths are reported.

The ministry has said in the past that timely disclosure isn't a 
concern because there eventually will be a coroner's inquest into 
each death. But that process moves at a snail's pace, and can often 
take several months or even years.

For the family of Wolf, who had been complaining to her father, Bill 
Faulkner, that she wasn't being provided with medical help for severe 
heroin withdrawal symptoms, and whose cause of death wasn't 
determined in an autopsy performed two days later, having to wait 
four to six months for a final report isn't tolerable. And it should 
not be tolerated by the public, either.

Wolf was being held on remand facing charges related to drug and 
weapons offences, and hadn't been convicted of any crime. Yet, as Mr. 
Faulkner told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, staff at the jail didn't get 
her the medical help she wanted because she thought she was getting 
sicker from withdrawal.

If, as a ministry spokesperson explained, the standard procedure is 
for all inmates to be assessed by a jail nurse within 24 hours of 
admission and someone in drug withdrawal taken to hospital if needed, 
what happened in this case? If corrections staff are obligated to 
notify the nurse if an inmate complains of severe withdrawal, did 
Wolf's case somehow fall through the cracks during the holiday 
season, perhaps because staffing levels may have been lower?

There are plenty of questions in this death, which the ministry 
didn't deem worthy of a news release.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom