Same-sex inmate couple fight to live together at Riverbend
A Court of Queen’s Bench judge in Prince Albert dismissed an application for an unconditional release filed by two Riverbend Institution inmates fighting to live together.
The inmates, Jean Richer and Leslie Sinobert, filed the application with the court, complaining their Charter rights were violated by Riverbend officials who wouldn’t allow them to live in the same unit at the minimum security institution.
In early November, Justice Mona Dovell dismissed their application with costs to be taxed, and wrote that the rights violation claim could not be used to challenge administrative decisions made by corrections officials.
“…Habeas corpus cannot be used to review the way the Correctional Service of Canada manages an inmate’s sentence as is the case here. Habeas corpus is a guarantee of liberty, not a channel for drawing our court into the day-to-day management of a prison.”